16 
BULLETIN 342, II. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
the food eaten by the producer of the 
milk. In other words, milk is merely 
a mobilization of vitamins eaten, and 
if the diet is to yield a milk rich in 
vitamins the food eaten must also be 
rich. He further points out the fact 
that cereals are poor in vitamins and 
green grasses rich in them, and that 
this brings up the question of winter 
feeding if the milk supply is used for 
infants, and he suggests that the 
variability in vitamins A and B in 
milk may at times make it necessary 
to supplement the diet. 
The second point brought out by 
Eddy expresses what appears to be the 
most reasonable attitude toward the 
use of Pasteurized milk for infant 
feeding according to our present 
knowledge of vitamins, and it is there- 
fore quoted : 
The second point in regard to milk lies 
in the effect of Pasteurization. This 
measure is now well-nigh universal and in 
America at least has played a tremendous 
part in the reduction of infant mortality, 
especially in the summer months. At pres- 
ent, however, we know that this treatment 
while removing dangerous germs may also 
eliminate the antiscorbutic factor. The 
sensible attitude then is to recognize this 
fact and if a clean whole milk is not avail- 
able retain the Pasteurization and meet 
the vitamin deficiency by other agents. 
Such agents are orange juice and tomato 
juice, and experience has already shown 
that these juices can be well tolerated by 
infants much earlier than used to be 
thought possible. 
It seems, therefore, that the only 
serious effect of Pasteurization on the 
vitamins is on the antiscorbutic vita- 
min C, and it is evident that the feed- 
ing of orange or tomato juice, or 
other antiscorbutic, readily makes up 
for the deficiency of this vitamin in 
Pasteurized milk. 
THE NECESSITY FOE PASTEUR- 
IZATION 
The need for safeguarding the milk 
supply is amply proved by the numer- 
ous epidemics traced to milk. Trask 
(29) reported 179 epidemics of typhoid 
fever from 1881 to 1907, of which 107 
were in the United States, 51 epidemics 
of scarlet fever, including 25 in this 
country, during the same period, and 
23 epidemics of diphtheria from 1879 
to 1907, including 15 in the United 
States. These were all traced to milk. 
He also listed 7 epidemics of sore 
throat, most of which occurred in Eng- 
land. Since 1907 several epidemics of 
septic sore throat have been traced to 
milk. Among these may be mentioned 
the epidemics at Boston, Chicago, and 
Baltimore, and others which have 
occurred in smaller cities. 
The problem of Pasteurization is not 
based simply on the question of which 
is preferable, raw or Pasteurized milk, 
but rather upon the most economical 
and practical way of producing a safe 
milk supply. 
In connection with the possibility of 
transmission of disease through the 
agency of milk, certain fundamental 
facts must be recognized. 
1. That such possibilities exist as dem- 
onstrated by epidemics of the past. 
2. That certain diseases transmitted tc 
man, such as tuberculosis, may come from 
diseased animals. The danger from this 
source can be prevented by the elimination 
of tuberculous cattle from producing herds 
on the basis of the tuberculin test. 
3. That the freeing of the herds from 
tuberculosis offers no protection against 
other diseases, as typhoid fever, diphtheria, 
and septic sore throat, because the patho- 
genic organisms causing these diseases may 
come from infected water supplies or prob- 
ably in most cases from human carriers of 
disease. 
The term ' ; carriers " is used to des- 
ignate persons who carry the disease- 
producing bacteria. In the case of 
diphtheria, carriers harbor the diph- 
theria organisms and discharge them 
from the nose or throat. Typhoid 
carriers discharge typhoid bacilli in 
their feces or urine. Diphtheria 
carriers may become so after hav- 
ing an acute attack of the disease 
or from other carriers. Typhoid car- 
riers are particularly important, be- 
cause from 2 to 4 per cent of the per- 
sons who have had typhoid fever con- 
tinue, as evidence shows, to discharge 
the typhoid bacilli in their feces or 
urine or both and become chronic car- 
riers. 
Persons suffering from sore throat 
are a menace to the milk supply, and 
probably the organisms responsible for 
septic sore throat are sometimes car- 
ried in the throat of apparently nor- 
mal individuals. 
It is manifestly impossible* to have 
a medical examination of all persons 
engaged in producing and handling 
milk. Yet such examinations at fre- 
quent intervals would be necessary, 
together with tuberculin testing and 
the assurance of unpolluted water sup- 
plies on every farm, in order to safe- 
guard the milk supply of the Nation 
to the same extent that is now possible 
by proper Pasteurization. The ap- 
preciation of the need for Pasteuriza- 
tion is distinctly shown by the marked 
increase in Pasteurization in the 
United States. 
