122 PASTEURIZATION OF MILK. 



Pasteurized milk in infant feeding. The use of heated milk 

 for infant feeding is widely prevalent. There is abundant 

 medical testimony to the effect that properly heated milk is 

 harmless, and that the general adoption of its use is an impor- 

 tant factor in saving life ( 12) . On the other hand, experienced ' 

 specialists in pediatrics vehemently object to the long-continued 

 use of heated milk for infant feeding and point with truth to 

 cases that are unable to tolerate heated milk. 



The literature of the subject is voluminous, but the discus- 

 sion in general has not been concerned with clear-cut issues. 

 The temperatures to which milk has been exposed in the past, 

 and even now, are higher than necessary. All sorts of tem- 

 peratures have been used and insufficient distinction has been 

 drawn between sterilized and pasteurized milk. Reference has 

 been made to the possible effect of toxins of bacterial origin 

 remaining active in heated milk, but really very little is known 

 concerning them. It has been asserted that the few spore- 

 bearing bacteria surviving the heating would subsequently 

 multiply very rapidly with harmful effect. It has been shown 

 however that, with proper refrigeration, multiplication goes on 

 slowly (ll). The issues to be determined have been clouded 

 by the interjection of ideas regarding the effect that the gen- 

 eral practice of pasteurizing would have on the care exercised 

 by producers. The writer is not yet convinced that there is a 

 strong case against the use of milk heated to 140F. for twenty 

 minutes. Now that this desirable kind of pasteurization is in 

 use, it would be well to take up on a large scale the study of 

 the effect of this milk upon infant morbidity and mortality, as 

 compared with unheated milk. The whole controversy con- 

 cerns only the effect of heated milk on children of less than 

 three years of age. There are special agencies for the supply 

 of milk for infant feeding, and more will be provided in the 

 future. Under these conditions, one may very well question 

 the advisability of viewing the whole problem of municipal 

 milk inspection from the standpoint of its use for the few 

 infants who are unable to tolerate heated milk. Rosenau (12) 

 discusses the matter fully. 



