CHEESE IN THE HOUSEHOLD 369 



cleavage of the casein, to salt added to the curd, and in 

 some varieties, like Roquefort, to bodies elaborated by 

 molds which develop in the cheese. In the highly flavored 

 sorts some of the fatty acids of a very marked odor are 

 present in abundance, as are also the ammonia-like 

 bodies. Indeed, in eating such cheese as Camembert a 

 trace of ammonia flavor may often be plainly detected. 



" The cleavage of the nitrogenous material of the cheese 

 and other changes are brought about chiefly by the action 

 of enzymes originally present in cheese or by micro-or- 

 ganisms and are to be regarded as fermentative and not 

 as putrefactive changes. 



" The liking for highly flavored cheeses of strong odor 

 is a matter of individual preference, but from the chemist's 

 standpoint there is no reason for the statement often 

 made that such cheeses have undergone putrefactive 

 decomposition." 



337. Relation to health. In connection with the use 

 of cheese as a food, its relation to the health of the con- 

 sumer must be considered. The presence of the bacillus 

 of tuberculosis in milk has led to careful study of its 

 possible presence in cheese. When American Cheddar 

 cheese was specially inoculated for this purpose, the 

 living organism was recovered from it after about five 

 months by Schroeder of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture. This danger is much greater from cheeses, 

 such as Cream and Neufchatel, which are eaten when com- 

 paratively freshly made. The disease has been produced 

 in guinea pigs from such cheese often enough to emphasize 

 the desirability of developing methods of making every 

 variety possible from thoroughly pasteurized milk. This 

 would remove the danger of tuberculosis and with it 

 eliminate the possibility of transmitting other diseases. 

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