Health and Temperance

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Dec 15, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 48.

Health and Temperance.

THE USE OF UNCOOKED MILK.

THE question of the habitual use of uncooked milk which prevails in this kingdom is one which demands serious attention. Again and again have milk epidemics of typhoid fever, scarlet fever, and diphtheria shown conclusively how severely the incidence of the disease in question has been felt upon those using uncooked milk, as opposed to those taking milk only after it has been boiled or otherwise cooked.

At one time it was thought that the matter involved only the question of the cleanliness of the dairy and the freedom of those engaged in its management from communicable disease; and the mere fact of milk coming from country dairies has been held to be a sufficient guarantee of its wholesomeness. As a matter of fact, our experience goes to show that the danger is at its greatest according as dairies are situated in the more remote and rural localities; for it is precisely in scattered rural areas that first cases of ill-defined sore throat and other affections in the families of those having to do with cows and milk are most likely to pass unnoticed. But recent experience has shown that disease in the human subject, whether unrecognized or concealed, is not the only—perhaps not the greatest—danger that has to be contended with in connection with our milk service.

It has now been shown that the cow herself may suffer from a disease which at present is rarely, if ever, regarded as of any importance by dairymen, and which may give to the milk, at the actual moment of entering the pail, the power of producing scarlet fever in those who consume it in its raw state. Just as the excellent arrangements which have been made for the medical supervision of dairies must at times fail to detect certain cases of disease in the human subject, so must any veterinary or other inspector of cows fail in certain cases to prevent scarlatina-producing milk from being dispatched from the dairy.

We would therefore once again urge the importance of using milk only after it has been boiled or otherwise cooked. And for those who have not habituated themselves to the somewhat altered taste of boiled milk as a beverage, we may note that if milk be boiled immediately after its delivery by the milkman, and be then set aside in a cool place for some six hours, the taste which is sometimes objected to will be found to be almost entirely removed; and not only so, but milk so treated keeps good and wholesome for a longer period than does unboiled milk.—London Lancet.