344 



MEDICAL SECTION 



carelessness or neglect on the part of the consumer ; 

 it will contain no virulent organisms that can produce 

 disease in children of this kind who are so likely to 

 have a lowered body resistance, and epidemics of 

 streptococcus sore throat will be impossible. If we 

 decide to use or advise such a supply, we shall have 

 an important duty to perform, namely, popular instruc- 

 tion relating to milk in the home and its economic 

 value ; comparison of milk with other household 

 foods ; the refrigeration of the milk, especially in 

 cases where the cost of ice is almost prohibitive. 



The mother must be taught how to preserve the 

 milk during the hot summer days by constructing 

 cheap home-made ice-chests. She must know that 

 milk is very susceptible to contamination, absorbs 

 odour readily if not rightly preserved. 



In order to determine what the standards of pure 

 milk should be the National Commission on Milk 

 Standards was appointed by the New York Milk 

 Committee in March, 1911, as a result of a Milk 

 Conference held under the auspices of the Committee 

 in December, 1910. This Commission consisted of 

 seventeen experts from all over the country. After 

 a year of careful work it recommended grading milk 

 into four classes : 



Grade " A " Certified milk or its equivalent. 



Grade " B " -Inspected milk. 



Grade " C " Pasteurized milk. 



Grade "D" Milk not suitable for drinking 

 purposes. 



It recommended that milk suitable for infant use 

 should not contain more than 100,000 bacteria per 

 cubic centimetre when used raw, or if pasteurized not 

 more than 10,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre when 

 ready for consumption. It condemned the use of 

 ''loose" or u dipped " milk except under carefully 

 guarded conditions. As the result of these findings 

 the New York City Board of Health adopted these 



