PRESENT STATUS OF PASTEURIZATION OF MILK. 15 



High-temperature pasteurization of earlier days must not be con- 

 fused with low-temperature pasteurization of the present day. Many 

 of the objections which hare been raised to pasteurization have been 

 founded on the observation of milk heated to high temperatures. 

 Unfortunately, not until recently has the use of low temperatures 

 entirely changed our views in regard to the value of pasteurization. 

 The fallacy of the objections to pasteurization has been shown, how- 

 ever, through scientific research in the past few years, and as a 

 result the value of the process has been firmly established. 



THE NECESSITY FOR PASTEURIZATION. 



Although pasteurization is being more extensively practiced in 

 most cities, particularly the larger ones, there are health depart- 

 ments in some of the smaller cities which are strongly opposed to the 

 process; there are also many people who object to it. The problem of 

 pasteurization is not based simply on the question of which is prefer- 

 able, raw or pasteurized milk, but rather upon the most economical 

 and practical way of producing a safe milk supply. In small cities 

 where money enough is available to pay for inspection, and where the 

 milk supply is drawn from farms within a short distance of the city, 

 it may be feasible, without pasteurization, to bring the supply to a 

 point of reasonable safety. To produce, however, the same degree of 

 safety in the supply of a large city by inspection would involve a 

 tremendous expense. 



Let us consider for a moment the supply of New York City, which 

 in 1912 amounted to about 2,500,000 quarts daily. This milk came 

 from 44,000 farms in six States, and was the product of about 

 350,000 cows. Some of it had to be transported 400 miles or even 

 more. It was estimated that 127,000 people were engaged daily in 

 handling the milk supply of that city. It is hardly necessary to 

 discuss the magnitude of a system of inspection suitable to guarantee 

 a safe milk supply of this size. 



There is, of course, in the large cities a small quantity of high- 

 grade raw milk, but it is produced under special conditions and sells 

 at a higher price than regular milk. The cost of such milk makes it 

 prohibitive for use in poor families. The means of creating a safe 

 milk supply for general consumption, especially for large cities, is, 

 then, in inspection, developed to the highest practical degree, fol- 

 lowed by proper pasteurization. 



It seems probable that within the next few years a large propor- 

 tion of the milk supply in American cities will be pasteurized. This 

 condition will come first in the larger cities, where the safeguarding 

 of the milk supply is a more difficult problem. For economic rea- 

 sons, and in recognition of the process as a means of eliminating 



