PASTEURIZATION OF MILK 219 



against the American pasteurization temperature of 145°. 

 But even against this low temperature it has been insisted 

 that pasteurized milk is not suitable for infants as a sole 

 article of food. It has been claimed that pasteurization 

 destroys some of the vitamins normally present in milk, 

 those poorly understood bodies whose presence in our food 

 is so necessary. Hence it is insisted that babies brought up 

 on such pasteurized milk have a tendency to develop a mild 

 form of scurvy which children given raw milk do not have. 

 Whether this is true or not, it is no argument against the 

 use of pasteurization. It is an argument simply against milk 

 as a sole article of diet for infants ; for when other foods 

 are included in the diet, or when vitamin-rich materials 

 such as orange juice or even extract of potato peelings are 

 added, the objection disappears. Doctors to-day, there- 

 fore, quite generally recommend that when pasteurized 

 milk is to be fed to babies orange juice should be given 

 either with it or separately. For adults nothing of this 

 kind is necessary, since adults feed upon a mixed diet. 



It will be perfectly clear that the fact that pasteurization 

 of milk is the only way of insuring its safety is a sufficient 

 answer to the arguments against it, especially since all ob- 

 jections may be readily met by the methods above men- 

 tioned. Pasteurization is not a substitute for cleanliness, 

 but an added safeguard. The best milk for the home is the 

 cleanest milk obtainable, which should be subsequently 

 pasteurized to remove accidental dangers that may have 

 reached it, and used with a little orange juice if it is to be 

 fed to young children. 



One caution should be given regarding the use of pasteur- 

 ized milk : the milk must be used quickly after pasteurizing. 



