144 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



The United States dispensatory says that the practice of using 

 salicylic acid for a preservative of articles of food is to be con- 

 demned. A commission appointed by the French government 

 reported that the prolonged use of even a very small amount of 

 salicylic acid is dangerous, especially to very aged persons. 



It is not difficult to see that it will be fatal to the permanent 

 interests of the cream trade if dependence is placed upon chem- 

 ical preservatives to keep the cream sweet. Such a practice is 

 quite easily detected by chemical tests and a well founded sus- 

 picion that it is commonly resorted to can only work injury to 

 the trade, even in cream preserved by unobjectionable methods. 



USE OF HEAT. PASTEURIZATION. 



The third method for keeping cream sweet until it reaches the 

 consumer, namely, by the use of heat, is based upon the fact that 

 bacteria that cause souring of cream are destroyed at a temper- 

 ature which leaves the cream uninjured. By practical tests it 

 has been found that a temperature of 155 deg. F. continued for 

 ten minutes will destroy nearly all of the souring organisms 

 without seriously injuring the appearance and without percepti- 

 bly, affecting the taste or wholesomeness of the cream. This 

 method is termed "pasteurization." While pasteurization may 

 not destroy all bacteria that are sometimes found in cream, so 

 that there is no possibility that souring will take place after- 

 wards, it does destroy most of them, and if cream so treated is at 

 once placed in sterilized cans with proper precautions to guard 

 against introducing any more germs, it has been found in prac- 

 tice that it can be shipped to distant markets under all conditions 

 of weather and reach the consumer in a perfectly sweet condi- 

 tion. Pasteurized cream has been successfully shipped from 

 Wisconsin to Maine and California and intermediate points with 

 perfect success. 



Perhaps the chief objection that can be urged against this 

 method is the fact that after being heated to 155 deg. F. the 

 cream never seems quite as thick as before, but this is an objec- 

 tion that has little weight when the true cause is known. The 

 taste and appearance, aside from thinness, is like that of fresh 

 cream. 



