Omaha daily bee., 1917-08-14

Wh1le the Hllk pEOuuCcI anu IhC
milk dealer have left bottle of clean,
unadulterated milk at the consumers
door they have done their duty. But
by improper treatment in the home
the housewife may make this milk
absolutely unfit for food, especially
for babies. She does this unknow-
ingly, by methods which she has used
az matter Of course. Why there
have not been more cases OF sickness
due to these careless methods IS a
wonder. and there is no doubt that
many of the minor complaints OF un-
known origin might be traced to any
one or a combination OF the lax meth
ods mentioned here. These methods
consists: () in placing the milk IN
unclean vessels; (2) in exposing. 1t
unnecessarily to the air; (3) in failing
to keep it cool up to the time OF using
it; and (4) in exposing it to flies.
Milk absorbs all impurities very
readily whenever it is exposed to the
air or placed in unclean vessels. These
impurities or bacteria are present IN
all forms of dirt and in the dust OF the
air. Not only this. but milk very
readily absorbs odors from other ar
ticles of food which may be placed
near it. Many of the bacteria which
may contaminate the milk are those
causing contagious diseases. Others
may cause digestive trouble. which, IN
the case of babies, may prove. fatal.
These bacteria may originate in the
home in spite of the fact that there is
no disease present But upon being
introduced to the milk which is not
properly cared~for multiply very fast
and may prove source OF sickness to
the babies. Much of the so-called
cholera infantum and summer bowel
troubles of infants is due to impure
milk. The amount of the contamina-
ton depends largely upon the uten'
sils and the air to which the mill
comes in contact, The air of even
so-caled clean room contains man,
impurities. The science of bacter
iology is raising the standard OF clean
liness of all utensils used in handling
milk, as this source of contamination
has been proven TO be one OF thu
worst that students of sanitation have
had TO combat. Bacteria which ge
into the milk from the air or from th'
vessels multiply rapidly as long a
milk remains warm. All milk abov'
50 degrees Fahrenheit should be con
sidered warm. At lower temperature
the bacteria either are dormant or in
crease slowly. Cleanliness and coli
are imperative il one would have goo
milk, although il it is consumed 81
quickly after production that the bac
terra in it do not have time to in
crease much--say within two or thre
hours-the importance of cold is les
sened. Milk from the grocery o
bakery which is kept in can, opei
much of the time, possibly withou
refrigeration, is dangerous and shoul
be avoided.
Here are a few suggestions whic
every housewife should follow in har
ding milk and cream if she wishes t
do everything in her power to cor
serve the health Of her family.
The best way of buying milk is i
bottles. Dipping milk from larg
cans and pouring it into customer
receptacles on the street, with all tn
incident exposure to dusty air not a
ways the cleanest, is bad practic
Drawing milk from the faucet of
retailers can is almost as bad as dil
ping, because, although the milk ma
be exposed to the street air littI
less than by the dipping process, it
not kept thoroughly mixed, and SON
consumers will receive less than the
proportion of cream.
II situated so that it is impossib'
to get bottled milk, do not set o,
overnight an uncovered vessel
; collect thousands of bacteria frol
: street dust before milk is put into
! Have the milk delivered personally
: some member of the family, if poss
Bile; il not. set out bowl covert
| with a plate, or, better still, use
: glass preserving jar in which nothin
but milk is put. In the latter cas-
use a jar with glass top, but ON
the rubber band,
Paper tickets are often more {
less soiled; hence if they are used Z
not put them in the can, bowl or ia
For the same reason money shou
not be put in the can.
Take the milk into the house