The Washington times., 1920-06-17
ELECTRICITY USED
TO SIER|L|ZE MILK
New York Health Department
Interested In Improved
Process.

NEW YORK. June l7.-onicisis OF
the health department of this city
have manifested much interest in the
announcement that a new electrical
process OF steriliEins milk has been
discovered In England According to
a report to the Department OF Com
merce by Alfred Nutting. OF the Amer
lean consulate in London. II has been
found that an electric current can be
run through milk without increasing
It's heat, and II acts as a complete
bactericide.
When he read the report yesterday
OF NuttinE showing the results OBJ
tsined with the new process, Ole
salthe, acting director of the d.
vision of foods and drugs OF the de-
partment OF health. said that some
time ago the health department had
given some consideration to the use
OF electricity for sterilization OF milk
and that II seemed to offer great
possibilities.
AUTHORIZED EXPERIMENTS.
The health department. he said.
gave a permit nve or six years ago TO
q Brooklyn milk distributor, now out
OF business. to try out an electrical
process. From the report OF the re-
suits obtained in London. Mr.. Salthe
said. much progress has been made
since that time in perfecting an cleo
trical process. He said that the cleo
trical method appeared to be entirely
feasible and that he expected to get
further information on the subject
from England. He added that II
would appear that the practicability Of
whether the results obtained in labor
atory experiments could be had in
preparing milk for commercial pur.
poses.
The investigatio was carried on At
Liverpool University, Profs. Beatie
and Lewis having made a large
number of Investigations. In the re-
port they enumerate the results OF
fifteen different experiments under
varying conditions, with different de-
grees of current and with several
qualities OF milk, as well as showing
two types of apparatus used. The
fnaI conclusions arrived at by the in
yestigators are:
DESCRIBES METHODS.
MIX can be rendered free from B.
coll, and B. tuberculosis by the new
electrical method described without
raising the tempe erature higher than
SO degrees or 81 degrees c. This
temperature effect is very short in
duration, and in itself is not the prin
cipal factor in the destruction of the
bacteria Though the milk is not
sterilized in the strict sense OF the
word, yet the percentage reduction OF
bacteria, taken over a period OF
fortnight. is 9ee3. The keeping pow
er OF the milk is considerably in
creased.
THE taste of the milk is not altered.
and so far as careful chemical ex
animation can determine the proper
ties OF the milk are not in any way
impaired. The milk can accurately be
described as raw milk free from pa
thogenetic bacteria"
In the introduction of the report
which was issued by the British med
ical research committee, II is pointed
out that the earliest description of an
electrical method having in view the
destruction of bacteria in milk by
electricity was published by the
Liverpool CEngland) Corporation in
1915, the investigator being Prof. J.
Martin Beatie of the University of
Liverpool. Subsequently independent
trials Of the method were undertaken
at birmingham, and the opinion Of
the committee is that the latter ex-
periments, while supporting the prac-
tical results obtained at Liverpool did
not entirely prove whether the cleo
trical current in The method adopted
had a directly bacterial action or
acted as a thermal agent Sir oliver
Lodge inclined to the latter view. Nut
ting said.