Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1906-07-05
INJURIOUS GERMS.
DANGEROUS BACTERIA ARE
OFTEN FOUND IN YEAST.
Not All Destroyed by Baking of
Dough and May Be the Cause
of Internal Dis
orders.

That most of the yeast OF commerce
contains injurious bacteria and that
our methods Of breadmaking are cal
culated to encourage the development
OF these and of their poisonous prod
uots is asserted by DR.. e. Paller, Of
Naw York, in the Dietetic and Hygien-
&c Gazette. He says:
Several specimens Of yeast sold
OIL themarket we're examined and found
tC be contaminated, but the greatest
contamination was found in the yeast
Of n manufacturer, which is being
retailed in small packages. and which
yeast for some unaccountable reason.
has the reputation Of being the best
on the market. So it may be as far
as appearance is concerned, but under
the microscope it is the worst as re-
grrds bacterial contamination"
From n fresh package no less than
four different kinds of microbes were
isolated, including one that is com
monty associated with putrefaction.
To resume the quotation:
In short, what is being sold on the
m1rket as yeast contains in addition
to the yeast cells numerous bacteria.
the most frequent being the bacillus
coil cummunis or n of its congeners.
OF course, any p%athogenic microbe may
find its way into the yeast and may
find there an excellent culture me-
diam.
Now, what is being done with the
upuCf9 II &c MT into urofar o,d not,r
and the whole is left in a warm place
and allowed to ferment. That means
that we encourage the BAG
terra to develop fully in the dough
and we encourage their toxins to fully
develop and saturate it.
'On examining microscopically after
II hours the dough which as fer
mented by the addition of such yeast,
1 found it to contain the very mi
crobes which were present in the
yeast. The -four in itself, Of course,
is not sterile; but the evil is aggra-
waited by the addition of a substance
laden with bacteria.
ut will not be amiss to refer here
to the claim made by some that yeast
10 an dullStpllC anu OnSeQu6ully
binders the growth of bacteria.
81 shall briefly state that I have
found by experiment that yeast him
ders the development of some putre-
factive germs in albuminous sub
stances, but it does it to a very slight
extent. It's antiseptic power on the
whole is insignificant.
The baking of the dough does not
seem to destroy all the microbes, the
heat probably not being strong enough
or not continued long enough. AS
said before, l found bacteria in the
pulp of fresh, warm bread Just
brought from the bakers. If that is
the case with nonsorpulent microbes,
the sorpulent M are surely not de-
stroyed.
Even if the heat should destroy all
the microbes it might not destroy the
toxins that they have generated, nor
does it correct the chemical changes
that have occurred owing to the ex-
cessive bacterial development. The
boiling of sou milk does not render it
fit for consumption. The cooking of
decomposed eggs, fish or meat does
not make them safe for ingestion.
eve have a rigid inspection of
milk and other articles of diet; but
our bread, the staple article, especial
of the poor, has been entirely neglect
ed. The bread looks to be such an in
nocent, harmless article that it has
been left alone"