FROM FARM TO CONSUMER 273 



originally found in the milk, but will not keep without some 

 special method of preservation. The method commonly 

 employed is sterilization in steam chambers, just as canned 

 corn or canned peas are sterilized. Such milk is actually 

 free from bacteria and will keep indefinitely, unopened. 



Another method of condensing milk is to concentrate it 

 by evaporation as before and then to add a large percentage 

 of cane sugar. The sugar here serves the same purpose 

 that sugar does in jelly. Such sweetened condensed milk 

 will keep without steam sterilization despite the fact that 

 it may contain many bacteria. As a matter of fact, the 

 sweetened forms of condensed milk upon the market may 

 contain as many as a million bacteria per cubic centimetre. 

 In other words, the sugar does not kill the bacteria, al- 

 though it prevents their growth and activity. 



Comparative studies made by Jordan, of Boston, show 

 that condensed milk is a very expensive food when its nu- 

 tritive value is compared with fresh, raw milk. Jordan and 

 Mott have shown that condensed milk is seldom prepared 

 from milk rich in fat. Analysis of several of the samples 

 indicates that in a majority of brands the original milk used 

 was either of low grade in respect to percentage of fat or 

 that the milk had been skimmed. These authorities point 

 out further that the present extensive employment of con- 

 densed milk is mainly due to the fact that the consumers 

 believe this product can be largely diluted with water and 

 yield a mixture which closely approximates the composi- 

 tion of milk. This opinion is fostered by the printed matter 

 which appears upon the labels of some of the different 

 brands. By following the definite and often indefinite di- 

 rections for diluting the condensed milks found upon the 

 market, mixtures are obtained impoverished in all the prin- 

 cipal milk constituents. There are three brands upon the 

 market which, when diluted with an equal bulk of water, 

 give a mixture having the approximate food value of 

 average whole milk. 



