FOOD.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18349, 21 August 1929, Page 11

FOOD.

CARE IN THE HOM*. (Contributed by Department of Health), Formerly the problem of keeping food in a fresh and satisfactory condition in the home was more difficult than it is at present, states the Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health, England, in a recent report. Nowadays the transport and distribution of food has greatly improved, and it is possible in most parts of the country to obtain a daily supply of fresh food from retailers, and therefore the time for which it is necessary to keep food in the home before it is consumed is comparatively short. Consequently, the precautions in the home which were formerly essential if food was to arrive on the table in a satisfactory condition are now much fewer and more simple. Nevertheless, if some care is now bestowed upon food when it arrives in the home the best cannot be got out of it; there will certainly be waste and perhaps even danger to health from contamination which can, with a little care, be avoided. The foods which require the greatest care are those which are the most perishable, such as milk, cream, sausage, brawn, butter, etc. There are many houses in which facilities for proper storage of perishable food are rudimentary or absent; but in spite of this, much can be done by the exercise of a little care and forethought to protect food from household contamination and keep it in good condition until it is consumed. In the first place perishable food should be bought at as frequent intervals as possible until wanted. It should be protected from contamination by being kept covered. In many cases nowadays food is supplied by retailers in containers and wrappers which are in themselves excellent protectives against contamination, and when suitable vessels or wrappers of this kind are provided, it is best to keep the food in them until it is required. In most cases food can be kept sufficiently cool without recourse to any very special precautions. Ice boxes or refrigerators in houses, although convenient, are not essential in this country; fresh supplies of food can generally be obtained so frequently that even in hot weather very perishable foods like milk should keep well for the short time necessary before consumption. The following are examples of the sort of care which should be given to certain perishable fiods in practically every home:— PERISHABLE FOODS. Milk should not be emptied out of the bottle in which it is supplied into a jug or basin. The bottle has been thoroughly cleansed and sterilised, and it is certain that the jug or other household utensil cannot be so clean or afford such complete protection. It should be remembered that the use of unsterilised vessels is the principal cause of the premature souring of milk. Its freshness may be prolonged even in very hot weather by standing the milk bottle in a basin into which cold water is allowed to flow from the tap.

Suspicion has fallen upon rats and mice as being possible for food poisoning infections. Cold meats and meat food preparations such as brawns, meat pies, etc., to which some cases of food poisoning have been traced in the past, were suspected of having received their infection from contamination by rats or mice running over them or feeding upon them. It is a necessary precaution, therefore, to protect such articles during storage in the household from the risks of such contamination. Closely woven wire covers are useful for this purpose, and will also serve as protection from the equally objectionable contamination by flies.

In addition to the simple precautions just mentioned for keeping food in the home in a fit condition for consumption, there are certain foods which are consumed raw and are specially liable to accidental contamination in course of preparation for the market and in transit to the consumer. Such, for instance, are lettuces, celery, water-cress, etc., and as the protection afforded by cooking is absent in their case, care should be taken to wash them thoroughly under running water before they are consumed. The importance of the use of raw vegetables as part of the daily diet is properly insisted upon in view of the supply of essential vitamines and other nutritive constituents which they provide, but it is equally important that they should be eaten in as clean a condition and as free from all contamination as possible.