Milk and milk products are wholesome and economical foods, which may readily be used in quantity in the diet.

Quality and cleanliness in handling are important topics which must be considered, as well as food value.

Cow's milk is a perfect food. It contains, first, materials which are needed for growth; second, materials which repair the bodily machinery; and, third, materials which provide the heat and energy necessary for work. This does not mean, however, that milk can be used as an exclusive food, either for grown-ups or children. Variety is also required.

Compared with other animal foods, milk is cheap as well as nutritious. A quart of milk supplies practically as much of both protein and energy as three-quarters of a pound of beef of average composition, or eight average eggs, and can generally be bought for less money. In case milk is 6 cents a quart, beef 20 cents a pound, and eggs 24 cents a dozen, 10 cents spent for milk will buy a little more protein and much more energy than 10 cents spent for beef or 10 cents spent for eggs. Thus, milk may be used as an economical substitute for either of them.

Some vegetable foods, like flour, are much cheaper than milk when both price and nutritive value are considered, and as a matter of fact form the bulk of human food; but of the animal foods, milk is one of the cheapest. Milk should be used instead of more expensive foods-not in addition to them. A glass of milk reduces the amount of meat or other proteid material required. From the point of view of bodily need, serving both at one meal is extravagant. Any appetizing milk dish can take the place of eggs, meat, etc.

Buttermilk

As a wholesome and nutritious food, buttermilk is also valuable. It has 3 per cent of proteids, and a quart contains one-fourth as much proteid as a man needs in a day, even if the most liberal estimate of his needs is taken. It is said to possess hygienic value as well, the theory being that lactic-acid bacteria may grow in the intestines, crowding out other and undesirable kinds.

Though not much different in nutritive value, buttermilk obtained as a byproduct in butter-making has a different quality or texture and a different flavor from so-called skim-milk buttermilk referred to above.

Handling And Keeping Milk

Pure milk is easily spoiled by improper treatment in the home; for instance, by putting it in unclean receptacles, by too much exposure to the air, by failure to keep it cool, by exposing to flies.

Milk readily absorbs impurities and bacteria from the air or from unclean surfaces, and warm milk is a good breeding ground for all kinds of germs. They multiply rapidly in milk which remains very long at 50° F. or higher.

Impure or germ-laden milk is dangerous. It may contain the bacteria of contagious diseases or the more common bacteria which cause indigestion and cholera infantum in babies.

Careful handling at home is quite as important as the securing of pure milk from the source of supply.

The best way of buying milk is in bottles. Dipping milk from large cans and pouring it into customers' receptacles on the street, with all the incident exposure to dusty air not always the cleanest, is a bad practice. Drawing milk from the faucet of a retailer's can is almost as bad as dipping, because, although the milk may be exposed to the street air a little less than by the dipping process, it is not kept thoroughly mixed, and some consumers will receive less than their proportion of cream. If situated so that it is impossible to get bottled milk, do not set out overnight an uncovered vessel to collect thousands of bacteria from street dust before milk is put into it. Have the milk delivered personally to some member of the family if possible; if not, set out a bowl covered with a plate, or better still, use a glass preserving jar in which nothing but milk is put. In the latter case, use a jar with a glass top, but omit the rubber band. Paper tickets are often more or less soiled; hence, if they are used do not put them in the can, bowl or jar. For the same reason, money should not be put in the can.

Take the milk into the house as soon as possible after delivery, particularly in hot weather. Never allow the sun to shine for any length of time on the milk. Sometimes milk delivered as early as 4 a. m. remains out of doors until 9 or 10 o'clock. This is wrong. If it is inconvenient to receive the milk soon after it is delivered, indicate to the driver a sheltered place, or provide a covered box in which the milk bottle or can may be left.

On receiving the milk, put it in the refrigerator at once and allow it to remain there when not using it. Except in cold weather milk can not be properly kept without ice. Unless the milk bottle is in actual contact with the ice it will be colder at the bottom of the refrigerator than in the ice compartment, as the cold air settles rapidly.

Keep milk in the original bottle till needed for immediate consumption; do not pour it into a bowl or pitcher for storage. Carefully wipe or rinse the bottle, especially the mouth, before pouring any milk from it, so that dust or dirt which may have gathered thereon or on the cap will not get into the milk. Do not pour back into the bottle milk which has been exposed to the air by being placed in other vessels. Keep the bottle covered with a paper cap as long as milk is in it and when not actually pouring from it. If the paper cap has been punctured, cover the bottle with an inverted tumbler.

Milk deteriorates by exposure to the air of pantry, kitchen or nursery. Do not expose uncovered milk in a refrigerator containing food of any kind, not to mention strong-smelling foods like fish, cabbage or onions. An excellent way of serving milk on the table, from the sanitary standpoint, is in the original bottle; at all events pour out only what will be consumed at one meal.

When milk is received in a bowl or pitcher instead of in a bottle, observe the spirit of the foregoing remarks: Keep the milk vessel covered; expose uncovered milk to the air of any room as little as possible; do not expose it at all in a refrigerator.

Remember that exposure of milk to the open air invites contamination not only from odors and bacteria-laden dust, but also from the flies. These scavengers may convey germs of typhoid fever or other contagious diseases from the sick room or from excreta to the milk.

Records show typhoid epidemics from such a cause, and 100,000 fecal bacteria have been found on a single fly. Flies also frequently convey to milk large numbers of the bacteria that cause intestinal disorders in infants; an examination of 414 flies showed an average of 1,250,000 bacteria per fly.

Keep the refrigerator clean and sweet. Personally inspect it at least once a week. See that the outlet for water formed by the melting ice is kept open, and that the space under the ice rack is clean. The place where food is kept should be scalded every week; a single drop of spilled milk or a small particle of other neglected food will contaminate a refrigerator in a few days.