Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 249, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1913 — U. S. Experts Tell Housewives How to Handle Milk. [ARTICLE]

U. S. Experts Tell Housewives How to Handle Milk.

No matter how carefully milk is handled between the dairy and the home, it can become very quickly undesirable (food if carelessly handled in the home. Milk when left only for a short time in summer heat or when exposed to the air or unclean vessels may become unfit for use according to the specialists. Though some bacteria always exist in milk, they are generally .harmless, provided their numbers are small and axe not of the disease producing type, but milk must be kept cool to prevent the bacteria already in it from multiplying and thus making the milk dangerous. In the handling of milk in homes, the specialists make an urgent appeal to those in whose home a sick person may he, to use every precaution in washing the milk bottles, so that they will not be sent out contaminated with disease-laden bacteria to infect other hordes. Whenever possible milk bottles should not be taken into a sick room or even into a hoifie where sickness is prevalent, but the milk should he emptied into a vessel. As soon as the milk is left at the home, if it is in bottles, it should he placed in the ice box and before using, the bottle and the cardboard stopper should he carefully washed. Milk is easily contaminated and the mere transferring of it from one vessel to another may often cause it to become laden with disease bacteria. Even in cool places milk should be kept tightly closed and free from strong odors. Onions should be kept out of the refrigerator. It is dangerous to give milk obtained at a store to invalids and children. Cleanliness in the handling of milk is as necegpary in the home as in the production of milk on t>he farm. Milk must be kept at low temperature at all times to prevent growth of bacteria and subsequent souring. It should he kept in closed vessels as far as possible. If ice is not available the bottle can he wrapped in cool damp cloths. This will keep the milk at a slightly lower temperature than the air about it.