SWEETENED CoNDENSED MiLK DEFECTS 245 
Contaminated Sugar.—The sucrose itself may be contam- 
inated with yeast. This is frequently the case and especially so 
if the sugar is exposed to dampness, and if flies, bees, ants or 
cockroaches have access to it. 
Again, the sugar may reach the milk through a sugar chute. 
The lower end of the chute is usually located directly over the 
steaming nulk in the hot well. The vapors arising from below 
may be condensed in the chute, causing its inside walls to be- 
come damp, and sugar will adhere to the damp surface, forming 
acrust. If the crust is not removed daily, its contamination with 
veast and other dangerous micro-organisms is almost inevitable 
and whenever this crust peels off and drops into the milk, the 
contamination may be carried into the finished product, giving 
rise to gaseous fermentation. 
Contaminated Machinery and Milk Conveyors.—Remnants 
of milk may lodge in the condenser, in the vacuum pan, in the 
pipes conveying the milk and condensed milk, in the cooling 
cans or coils, in the supply tank of the filling machine, or the 
filling machine itself. These remnants are all subject to con- 
tamination and may become the source of fermented condensed 
milk. ‘lhe strictest attention to scrupulous cleanliness and con- 
tinuous inspection of all parts of conveyors and apparatus which 
come in contact with the milk are the only consistent safeguards 
against trouble from this source. 
’ 
Contamination Through ‘“Cut-opens.’ 
empty the contents of samp!e cans which are cut open for any 
purpose, back into the condensed milk of succeeding batches. If 
these samples happen to be contaminated with the fermenting 
germs, the defect is naturally propagated from batch to batch 
and it is exceedingly difficult to locate the source of the trouble. 
It is obvious that all suspicious “‘cut-opens” should be rejected 
and that all ‘“‘cut-opens” that are utilized should be emptied into 
the hot well where their contents are boiled up again. 
—It is customary to 
Dangerous Effect of Poor Quality of Sugar.—Sweetened 
condensed milk is not sterile. There is no part of the process 
that would render it sterile and, from the time it leaves the 
vacuum pan to the time when the tin cans are hermetically 
sealed, it is exposed to contamination with microbes, even 
