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Show MILK THE PERFECT FOOD (FRANK W. LKCI.ERE.) (Utah Public Health Association.) Milk Is ono of tho cheapest foods. This Is worth considering in this tlmo of high food prices. Milk Is also easily digested and contains all necessary food elements. It Is therefore, there-fore, when pure, a porfect food. Unfortunately, however, milk easily easi-ly becomes unfit for uso. "Milk Is responsible for much slcknoss and moro deaths than all othor foodstuffs food-stuffs put together," says Rosonau, ono of tho best authorities. Milk rapidly absorbos odors and flavors. It decomposes quickly. Most dl-seaso dl-seaso germs soon die In water, but If they find their way into milk thoy live and multiply onormously. Epldomlcs are frequently traced to inporfect milk. Tho dlseasos most commonly convorted In this manner aro typhoid fever, tuborculosls, diphtheria, diph-theria, scarlet fevor, septic soru throat, and sunimor complaints of children. Sometimes Infection is duo to a diseased cow, as In bovlno tuborculosls tubor-culosls and foot-and-mouth dlseaso. Dut usually Infection Infection comes from being handled by an unhealthy person. Tho United States public health servlco reports an opldomlc of thirty-six cases of typhoid In ono town last month was traced to a milk man, who was a typhoid carrlor. Although ho was apparently frco from typhoid, ho still carried tho typhoid germs in his system. In 1907, seven hundred nnd sovontecn cases of scar-lot scar-lot fever and sovonty-two of diphtheria diph-theria In Uoston wero traced to milk. Milk Is tho natural food for tho young. Howover, it must not bo forgotten for-gotten that cow'a milk was-intonded by nature for tho cow's baby, not for tho human baby. Tho natural food for tho human baby is Its mother's milk. If cow's milk must bo used for that purposo It should bo modified modi-fied under a doctor's advlco. Infants and children have less ro-slstanco ro-slstanco to dlseaso than adults. And slnco milk forms so lifrgo a part of their food, thoy suffer much mora than adults from spoiled and Impuro milk. Thousands of littlo whito caskets cas-kets Is tho hideous prlco wo pay for our carelessness in tho sourco nnd handling of our milk supply. Vuro, clean milk Is posslblo with n littlo coBt and constant vigilance. Tho chief points In tho production of clean milk aro thus summarized by Itosonau: "Clean and healthy cows. Healthy milkers. Milk palls storll- Izod by scalding. Sterilized cans and bottles. Clean hands." Tho milk should be cooled at once and kept cool. Unless tho milk Is known to bo nb-solutoly nb-solutoly safe, it Is best to pasteurize it. Somo authorities advise pasteurizing pasteur-izing all milk. This is dono by heating heat-ing It In a closed vessel or bottlo to about 148 degrees for thirty minutes and then rapidly cooling it. Thl3 kills all dangerous bacteria. |