Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-07-05
Good Advice Free.

After recently notifying the public
in substance, that Guaranteed Under
the Food and Drugs Act" does moi
amount to Hannah Cook to the con-
sumner, the Department of Agriculture
has undertaken to get us through the
summer, if sensible advice will do IT
1t has issued the following practical
suggestions in regard to keeping food
and drink in hot weather, with a view
to helping the public to avoid sickness
from eating spoiled articles of Diet:
sfWhile people should be careful
about the condition of the food they
eat at all seasons of the year, they
should be particularly watehful during
the summer months. In hot weather,
bacteria multiply far more rapidly than
in cold weather and produce chemical
changes i'm some foods which greatly
lessen their nutritive value and often
make them unfit for human consump-
ton. Unfortunately, there is no quick,
absolute simple, practical way of deter
mining the presence of hurtful bacilli
in foods or of obtaining positive EVIL
Cience of the existence of ptomaines.
The average family deos not have the
delicate apparatus needed for these
tests. nor the skill to detect these Mi
cro-organisms.
1.-The housewife will find eyes and
rose the safest practical detectives OF
bad food in hot weather. If any article
has any suspicion of an unusual odor
or looks abnormal, ii should he avoid
ed. People eating in doubtful feStau-
rants should be particularly careful
about meats or fish cooked with a
highly spliced or aromatic sauce which
might disguise bad taste or warning
odor. only sweet smelling, clean food
should be eaten. Spotted, green. Shiny,
or frothy raw meat or meat which Is
soft in spots also should be regarded
with suspicion. Taste of course Is d
snpplementary test, but one to be used
after eyes, nose and fingers. A mother
before she allows her child to eat any
thing. should examine ii carefully IN a
good light, smell 1t, and fnaly taste IL.
Milk particularly deteriorates rap
idly under summer heat, especiaiiy II
il already contains bacteria. House
wives therefore, should see to II that
their milk after being left by the milk
man does not stand for any length OF
time On a hot back porch or steop be-
fore il is put in the icebox. Milk bottles
should be kept closed, both in the ice
hoy and out of II. If there is any doubt
at all as to the excellence of the local
milk supply, pasteurize all milk.
..All foods should be kept covered or
wra pped. and always out of the reach
of flies. which are deadly carriers OF
typhoid. All vessels pitchers, etc, In
n inch FOOD is to be stored should flrst
be scalded Food should he handled as
little as possible. The ice box. especial
Nv its drainpipe, should be cleaned
thoroughly and frequently with boiling
water and washing soda and given an
occasional airing. A persistent battle
should be waged against flies in all
parts of the home.
.Uncooked foods as a general propo-
sition. should be avoided. Children
should not be allowed to eat the skins
of fruits, especially fruits which have
been exposed to flies or street dirt on
unscreened stands or push carts.
Those who go away for vacation
should not get the idea that everything
in a summer resort or strange city is
necessarily pure and wholesome. Inc
danger of typhoid fever in country re-
sorts is very great Many OF the cases
of typhoid fever recorded in the fall IN
cities where the water is pure, had
their origin in water or contaminated
substances drunk or eaten at some
summer resort. Insist on boiled water.
If YOU absolutely cannot get boiled
water, make very sure about the repu-
tation of springs, wells, or tap water.
Refuse absolutely to take any water
that comes from source near an out
house or stable, or in neighborhood
where fever is at all prevalent.
BOILED water can be made Just as
palatable as unboiled water. Tie nat
taste which Boiled water has soon after
il has been boiled is due to the TACT
that boiling drives out of it the ar
which IL held in solution. If the water
after boiling is put in scalded shallow
open tins and allowed to stand for
twenty-four hours where flies and dirt
cannot get at it, 1t will regain its air
and have its usual taste restored by
the second day.
FINALLY ii is particularly important
in summer that people should not De
misled into believing that the label
Guaranteed under the Food and Drugs
Act on cans and packages means That
the Government has tested these FOODS
and pronounced them pure and desifa-
be. The Government does NOT make
the guarantee. The guarantee IS made
wholly by the manufactures, ana
means no more than when your own
corner grocer guarantees that the shg-
ar he weighs out for you rs all right.
Examine the goods labelled 'Suaran-
teed' just as carefully as any other
kind