208 THE MILK QUESTION 



Home pasteurization 



If pasteurization is to be done, theoretically the best 

 place to do it is in the home; that is, it would be advisable 

 to pasteurize milk just before it is used. The heating of 

 milk to just the proper temperature and holding it there 

 for just the proper period of time (say 60 C. for twenty 

 minutes), and then cooling it rapidly, seems a very simple 

 operation, but any one who will try it will find that it is 

 not so easy as it seems, in that it requires an intelligent 

 and careful manipulation and a due regard for the laws of 

 physics. 



With the possible exception of milk for infant feeding 

 it is much easier and cheaper to pasteurize the milk in 

 bulk under competent supervision, instead of leaving it to 

 the usual carelessness of cooks who cannot be expected 

 to master the technic nor appreciate the dangers. Imper- 

 fect pasteurization may be worse than none, for it gives a 

 sense of false security and may even result in further con- 

 tamination of the milk. If our drinking-water must be 

 purified, experience teaches us that we cannot depend upon 

 each individual householder to do it. Further, this retail 

 purification is enormously expensive and a great waste of 

 time when compared to centralized and supervised pas- 

 teurization. 



The most practical home pasteurizer is that devised by 

 Freeman. A number of experiments which I have made 

 in the laboratory with this pasteurizer shows its effi- 

 ciency. 



The home pasteurizer devised by Mr. Nathan Straus l 



1 No discussion of the subject is complete without recognition of the 

 debt we owe Mr. Nathan Straus for his early and persistent advocacy of 

 pasteurization and the establishment of his infant's milk depots. Through 

 his influence and philanthropy this movement has now spread to many 

 cities of this country and abroad. 



Mr. Emile Berliner of Washington has also for many years pointed out 

 the dangers of raw milk and taught the wisdom of scalding milk. 



