Dietetic Value 175 



The foregoing citations suggest that our knowledge of the 

 dietetic effect of heated or boiled milk is exceedingly limited and 

 that the results obtained and conclusions drawn by the various 

 investigators are at variance. In experiments with the living 

 organism, and confined to so few specimen as seems to have been 

 the case in the work reported, the factors of individuality and 

 environment are a constant stumbling block, magnifying the 

 limit of experimental error and weakening the conclusiveness of 

 the results. On the basis of our present knowledge it seems 

 reasonable to conclude that, as far as the digestibility of its 

 inherent ingredients is concerned, condensed milk, when con- 

 sumed in properly diluted form, varies but li-ttle, if any, from 

 raw milk. The absence in condensed milk of ferments, such as 

 enzymes, which are destroyed in the process and which may 

 assist digestion, may be considered the most important defect 

 of condensed milk from the dietetic point of view. 



In the case of sweetened condensed milk, however, the nutri- 

 tive ratio of the normal milk is decisively disturbed by the pre- 

 sence of large quantities of sucrose. Even when diluted to far 

 beyond the composition of normal and original fluid milk, tlie 

 per (^ent. of cane sugar is still high, causing the nutritive ratio 

 of such milk to be abnormally wide and unbalanced. The carbo- 

 hydrates are present far in excess of the protein, fat and ash. 

 If fed to infants exclusively and for a prolonged period of time, 

 the growing organism is bound to suffer from malnutrition and 

 at the expense of muscular development. 



Furthermore, it is conceded by the medical profession that 

 sucrose is not a suitable form of carbohydrates for infants. It 

 is not as digestible as lactose, it changes the bacterial flora of the 

 intestines, enhancing the development of butyric acid and other 

 gas-forming and putrefactive germs at the expense of Bacillus 

 bifidus, which is the natural inhabitant of the intestine in normal, 

 milk-fed babies. 



Sweetened condensed milk is generally highly advertised by 

 the manufacturer as a suitable food for babies ; it is frequently 

 recommended by physicians and in some instances, it is claimed 

 to have agreed with babies who were unable to take care of milk 

 in any other form. It is not improbable that in these extrerriely 

 isolated cases of baby feeding, when all other feeds failed, the 



