Evening star., 1925-11-17
FOOD AND HEALTH
ny WINiFRED ~Tt ART GIBBS.
f0od specialist.

The old saving. You must eat a
peck of dirt before you die. no long
er holds. The laws Of sanitation In
| these enlightened days command
very real respect.
The adase referred To was coined
~ ii bygore age, when conditions as
they existed were accepted as inev-
liable and irremediable. The good
folk of thdt period thought the best
Nay MAS To shut the eyes To what
, could not lie helped. Civilization was
then in the ostrich period. shat Of an
attempted Ignoring ot physical and
scientific facts 10y means OF The Sim.
pie process of hurying the powers OF
perception in the sands Of s@ifue-
luSion
But that age Is past. Scientists
have kept on probing and are con.
tinuOusit placing the results ut the
disposal or mankind. We are learn
ing to look facts in the face combat.
inS The evils uf dirt aud disease with
the help Of practical Weapons. These
Weapons, by the way, we nave bcrn
furnished by the very science thai
uncoNers the evils.
SO The obserN aHce OF the laws of
sanitation as regards food today Is
regarded as being of supreme i'm
portance, ana we rea liZe that health
and even life itself, may depend on
attention To such matters. Further
more. we are learning that while il
Is a mistake To become pa mic. st ricken
over bacteria. or germs" as they
are usually called. we must on the
other hand, keep continuously In
mind the necessity for guarding
against infection. This implies pay
Ing strict attention to all food that
Is exposed 10 the air. even for i short
tlne. Unless such prec Iution.. art
taken. the food is likely to become Il
breeding ground for harmful ,re3n.
isms. which must be destroyed before
The food Is taken into the system.
This destruction can only be ef-
fectively accomplished by rpokiu. the
food at very high temperature. F'or
this reason, among the safest foods
in the world are those which are sci
entificallN procesSed in the CONNER.
clai canneries. Not only are narm-
ful bacteria destroyed there by eM-
pertly applied mechanical processes,
but there is rigid enforcement. of
d aDsolute ciea nliness in food handlin.
4 visit to one OF the big canneries
gives one permanently comfortable
sense Of safety when eating foods
canned at these plants. Food that
has come from can must have pass
Ell through several waahinEs before
II IL even cooked aud packed 1t has
been touched b. no hands thai rave
not first been carefully cleaned cer.
tain foods being ha ndled only bE
workers wearing gloves. In short il
IL practically impossible for ANYTHING
Of an injurious ma ture to survive this
extreme care. both at the beginning
~ the processing and later. when
complete sterilization takes place.
Mere freshness IL not always
qua ;tntee of its hta lthful qua litieS
To ather fruit or Negeta bleS from
trees or garden and to eat them i'm
meGiately is one thing TO eat them
direct from a market stall anot her
Products shipped To our large cities
usually travel long way and pass
through many ha nds before "e;tching
the consur,ar, so IL is seldom :afe 10
count up - their sanitary conditions.
ON the other ha nd. when the house
wife opens raR she NAV lie aDSo-
mteiN certain that she will tni san
itarN food within She has merely
To arrange the food comninin. IT,
perhaps. with other products. and il
is ready To eat before any possible
conta nina tion can take place
With this point disposed Of we have
then to consider the popular idea that
canning destroys the vitamins. Sci
ence is reassuring us here also.
copyright. 1929