DANGERS OF "RAW" MILK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22053, 8 September 1933, Page 12

DANGERS OF "RAW" MILK

TOLL ON CHILD LIFE OFFICIAL CONTROL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON,. July 27. At the International Pediatric Congross in London the dangers of " raw milk and the proper means for preventing the transmission of disease's conveyed by milk, formed the subject o'f discussion. Professor Pettersson, of Stockholm, pointed out that not only could bacteria get into the milk because it came from sick cattle, but also there wag a serious danger of contamination from sick human beings, even tuberculosis being conveyed in this latter way. Professor G. B. Allaria, of Torino, summed up the subject by stating that in the present state of the dairy industry in the majority of countries some method of purifying'milk—generally by a form of heating—was necessary. The value., of the " vital " properties of " raw " milk. he argued, had been exaggerated, and of the two dangers, destruction of such vital properties by heating or the presence of dangerous bacteria in raw milk, the latter was the more serious. While it was desirable to improve the production of milk, aiming at a pure, clean product, it appears to be very difficult to secure thig without methods of official control. THE IDEAL SOLUTION, Dr J. M. Hamill, of London, said that 2000 children died annually in this country from infection by tuberculous milk. Since even tuberculin-tested and certified milk occasionally contained tuberculosis bacteria, it would seem to be impossible to secure a pure milk supply by measure« designed to eradicate the disease from cattle. He thought that efficiently controlled pasteurisation' was the ideal soIu« tion. He also stressed that the nutritional value of such milk was not apprar ciably inferior to that of raw milk, ah< he emphatically condemned the idea thafl . the drinking of infected milk in childhood built up resistance. This exposed children to ft risk of a fatal malad/.