Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-28
By Rene Bache

DISEASES of foods have re- By Rem
- Gently been the subject of -
serious investigation at the hands
| of science. They are many and various, and
| some of them, such the chalk disease of
| bread, in frequent instances cause considerable
loss to producers What is commonly known
as "ropy milk is a disease that at least for
| awhile, has practically destroyed the business
of many dairymen.
| Such diseases are caused by two different
kinds of vegetable germs: bacteria, and the
spores of fungi. Bacteria, as everybody knows,
| are microscopic plants which are in the air and
everywhere. Most of them entirely harm
| less; but few species dangerous. The
fungi in question of the kind known as
molds and mildews, and their spores, CORE
spending to the seeds of higher plants, which
are SO tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye,
/ are omnipreSent
lump of dough, kneaded by the housewife
| and made ready for the oven, is likely to con-
| tain a great many bacteria and perhaps fungus
germs WELL But the heat of the oven kills all
these spores and microbes, and ordinarily the
| baked loaf, when it comes out, is absolutely
| sterile; that is to say. germ-free. No kind OF
food could possibly be safer to eat. Possibly
there may have been typhoid germs in the
water used for mixing the bread; but, if so,
| they are destroyed.
| Are Fond of Bread
RUT what happens them Well under ordi-
- nary circumstances the loaf is allowed to lie
| exposed to the air. and the bacteria or fungus
spores floating about in the atmosphere lind
| their way into assures of the crust MicrobeS.and
| germs of molds are as fond of bread as human
beings are, and so they proceed to feed upon It,
| multiplying with great rapidity
| The crust being less moist, is less available
| as food for them than the crumb. But let a few
/ spores of the chalk disease fungus get fa1r
start in the crack of loaf. and the vegetation
| of the plant that grows from them will quickly
make its way into the crumb and spread
| through the substance thereof Then, when
the loaf is cut the interior Will be found to pre-
sent a most remarkable appearance, all the
pores of the crumb being filled with dry white
powder
1t seems as if the interior of the loaf was actu-
ally turned to chalk Of course it should not be
eaten But in addition to its unsghtly and I'M
| wholesome appearance. the bread attacked by
| this disease has very disagreeable musty odor.
In earlier times this trouble was regarded as
| wholly mysterious and beyond explanation
| Even nowadays it sometimes causes serious loss
| to bakers But the mischief maker has been
/ identified, under the scientific name of Mon1isd
vayiabilis and the cure is simple enough.
Strictly speaking, it is rather preventive
| than a cure The loaves of bread, on being
taken from the oven. should be put at once into
| a COOL dry, airy place, and kept there. Germs
| of molds cannot propagate and multiply their
species without moisture, and low temPera-
ture is always unfavorable to microbes and
fungus spores.
| The germs that cause diseases of bread are
mostly mold fungi. AS rule they are not dan
| gerous to human beings: but they make the
bread unsightly and offensive to the smell.
Thus species called Ofdinm anrantidcnm made
good deal of trouble not long ago at one OF the
military barracks near Paris This objectionable
| microbe found its way into the bakeries used
| for the troops, and hourished so nightly that
fresh loaves supplied to the soldiers were COW
cred the following day with nasty looking
orange yellow coating. Besides. the bread &C
quired a most unpleasant odor and flavor so
that the men could not eat 1T.
Bread cr,lmb is first class culture me-
dun" for all kinds of microbes, including those
which produce diseases in human beings. A
cut loaf, exposed to the air, is to them most
attractive invitation The moist wheat gluten
is lust the sort of stuff in which they can multi
ply to advantage and maintain high vitality.
Accordingly, in consideration of this fact. the
intelligent housewife should take particular
care to keep her cut loaves in dry, cool place,
preferably in a tin box. The tin box not only
interferes with evaporation thus keeping the
bread moist but excludes microbes.
On Old Shoes and Rye Bread
IONE of the commonest kinds of mold is that
~ which frequently makes it's appearance on
old shoes that left for awhile in closets, I'M
| worn. 1t is white at first: them as it attains
| more advanced growth, gray in color. Some
times it has a green hue PenfefH1nm gldncn,n
is it's proper name, and it is too familiar cause
of disease in bread. The preventive in this
/ - -. = cool <~, NC M;crobac acpacia11v