Experiment station wokk on food and nutrition. 231 



One reason why milk is especially dangerous is that it is generally 

 consumed without cooking. To avoid the danger of infection from 

 milk it is sometimes pasteurized or sterilized. These methods of 

 treating milk have been extensively investigated by the experiment 

 stations." When the milk is for the feeding of infants, however, it 

 is important that its nutritive i)roperties be not seriously affected. 

 Many physicuins are of the opinion that sterilized milk causes seri- 

 ous disturbances in very young children, and prefer to run the risk 

 of infection from the use of raw milk. The Maryland Station ^ 

 made a thorough investigation of the eti'ect of sterilization of milk 

 upon its digestibility and nutritive value. It was found that the 

 sterilized milk was slightly less completely digested by calves than 

 the raw milk, and that it had certain deleterious effects upon the 

 young animals to which it was fed. 



For adults the effect of sterilization upon the nutritive value of 

 milk would be less important, but no one would care for milk known 

 to be impure, even if the danger from its use could be removed by 

 such treatment. As the facts about milk become more generally 

 realized, consumers are demanding that milk shall be handled in 

 such a way* that contamination with dangerous bacteria shall be 

 avoided. 



Even if no pathogenic bacteria are present, milk handled care- 

 lessly may contain large numbers of organisms that destroy its keep- 

 ing qualities. This fact is perhaps more generally recognized than 

 the danger from disease organisms in milk, and there is a constantly 

 increasing demand for the improvement of milk in this respect. The 

 growth of these organisms can be checked by low temperature, and 

 methods of cooling the milk have been introduced.'" Repeated in- 

 vestigations at the stations <* have shown, however, that the number 

 of such organisms in milk can be very greatly reduced by more 

 attention to cleanliness in the i)roduction and distribution of milk; 

 and as the results of these investigations become known consumei's 

 are demanding that the producers of this article of diet shall pay 

 more attention to these matters, and the stations are showing how 

 imj)r()\('m('nt may bi' l)rought about. 



Investigations with cheese also form a large and important part 

 of experiment station work on dairy i)roducts. Cheese is a very 

 nutritious article of diet. Chemical analyses have shown that it 

 is especially rich in both pi-otcin and fat. and digestion experi- 



oNew Jersey Stas. Rul. 152; Wisconsin Sta. Upt. 1003. 



'' Maryland Sta. r.iil. 77. 



'■ Maryiiuul Sta. liul. SH. 



d Illinois Sta. lUil. i)'J ; Kansas Sta. Hui. SS : Marylaml Sta. TUil. SS; .Michi- 

 gan Sta. Hul. I'LM ; New York Coriioll Sta. Buls. I'.t7 and 'M\; Connecticut 

 Storrs Sta. liuls. li;j and -(», and others. 



