MILK AS A FOOD 39 



butter-fat when "homogenized" appears to have the body 

 and richness of a thirty per cent cream. 



The amount of fat in milk varies widely. In cow's milk 

 the fat should not fall below three per cent, and except in 

 unusually rich milk will not exceed five per cent. Good 

 milk from a herd of well-fed cows should average not far 

 from four per cent of butter-fat or about thirty-one per 

 cent of the total solids of the milk. The variation in the 

 amount of butter-fat is much more marked than any other 

 constituent of the milk. The protein and milk sugar are 

 usually constant. 



The percentage of butter-fat in milk has long been one 

 of the standards by which milk is tested. The richness, or 

 the amount of fat in milk, is more of an economic than a 

 sanitary question. Thus milk with only three per cent of 

 butter-fat from Holstein cows is just as good a food as 

 milk with five per cent of butter-fat from Jersey or Guern- 

 sey cows; the only difference being that there are more 

 calories in the richer milk than in the weaker milk. Even 

 skim milk containing little or no fat is a valuable food. The 

 marketing of milk containing various amounts of butter- 

 fat is therefore not so much a sanitary question as it is an 

 economic question. It really belongs to one of the greatest 

 reforms in the whole pure-food question, namely, "honest 

 labeling." There is no reason why milk should not be 

 labeled and sold as other foods, the price depending upon 

 the grade and corresponding to its nutritive content. Some 

 people might prefer Holstein milk, not because it may be 

 sold a cent a quart cheaper, but because they prefer a milk 

 less rich in butter-fat. This question will be discussed 

 under milk standards. 



Almost all the states and cities in our country have a law 

 requiring milk to contain not less than 3.5 per cent of but- 

 ter-fat. When the milk standard is relatively low, say 3.25 

 per cent, it is a temptation for dairymen to use inferior 

 cows, cheaper feed, and, worse than all, it is a temptation 



