BOILED MILK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 28, 28 October 1907, Page 2

BOILED MILK.

IS'IT'GOOD FOR YOUNG STOCK? ■■'.". .IMPORTANT TESTS.'.,. 1 •!:': Heat is the usual mode"employed for ilising milk; and in some European dairy factories all t-ho skim'milk and whey.is so -sterilised: before it is. returned to the ■farmer'.'. Garoful experiments) however, recently car-.' ried out seem to show'that boiling 'changes ;tho character of the milk ■'extensively;'"and renders it unsuitable for food for.youn, anir, mals. In view of the recommendation'of our chief- veterinary surgeon that ■■;■ compulsory sterilisation of skim ■ milk arid whey should be introduced .in New Zealand to prevent the spread of tuberculosis arid-other bacterial dis-' eases,' the particulars of the test will'bo-in-teresting. Of course, heating is' not the only moans by which-milk' can be made sterile, but itis the. usual method. Apparently thero ■is serious need for some better way. •;•• .y " ■ Particulars of the tests ; are' given-in : a p'r'c- 1 ' liminary report published in the'" Agricul-: turarWoekly,':'of Pomerania, frorn'Dr.'Eic' J phoff: The experiments were carried out at the Greifswald Dairy Institute and were' for the purpose of : determining the -value ■■'of boiled : milk'as'food , for young animals. ' ll Disastrous Effects of Boiling. '; ]■'■{'■■ ''■ ''• When milk is boiled," writes.the .doctor,- , "it undergoes very considerable ~.changes. Evon heating' to .18l)'.degrees.Fah;-.' willqau'^'e ; sbmo of these changes. . It .loses its power pfourdling under tlie.action.of rennet, .tjie.al . bumon coagulates, soluble salts insoluble, !and ppisbiious matter, is, formell.'.Beforo ilio .casein of, milk, is digested it. should b'e curdled.by the'reiinet of the stomach... As boiled .casein, loses its.capacity 'of curdling, it, is moro. difficult of .digbstioh'than that ~;of milk which, has not' been '.heated, .and con-, sequenily can ciirdle.' , . ,:■.,'.';'''.'' . ';„.,. 'The, soluble albumen "is themost, ea-silj; di'posted constituent'lin-; milk, and when .this. ;s, injured by boiling,.'and' made .less 'digestible, 'the milk 'must..suffer .in,.mitritiyo . ysthic. When the soluble' salts are,rendered insoluble by heat they'are either lost altogether, to tho system for the formation of bone arid ;blobd, or their assimilation .is..mado.more diffi ■... cult. Products of a poisonous 'nature' aro formed by the , decompositton' of' , tho albuminoid bodies; when l milk is boiled, which; taken 'constantly}' are capable of -cauTsing , injurious ■effects to vie:system'.-- ■ ' ' ;".,- '"' ; '.'.

How "the-Puppies Fared.; ; ' ''';''. ■'', To prove whether boiled milk has any in-, injurious influence upon, ypirng ..animals,., the. following experiments wer;?..undertaken ..at' 'the Griefswald Scientific; Dairy Institute. A. litter of ..eight .puppies jyas,.procured an-1 divided.into.two.lots, to-.iono. of: which —Lot, 'A—was'given raw.''(i.p.,unheated) milk, white: tho other—Lot B—was" fed ..exclusively on 'milk which had . bpon, boiled:for 15; minutes.,. No other, food was given. ;>At,the commence-, rnent of, the J experiment,, ./the': dogs . were ,weighed, each .week. After three months they : were put;under, chloroform and .bled ,to death, by ■oppiilng an artery,; Tho blood was caught; and woighed ; audi;the 'fibrin extracted, .llie Specific, gravity, .the amount of albumen. ami. 'ash, were determined, and in. some cases the small blood-corpuscles \verej counted and tho 'ash .analysed., ,Thp','flesh oil,-the. frpnt.and hind: removed for icxarniriatiou-witli 'rbgafd to its structure to the Pathological Institute of Griefswiild University, and ;n 'the chemical department pf Dairy Institute with regard to the salts it contained.

Raw Milk' Superior. ~,-.,..,,. V- For the ''first , week) 'the dogs in ! ' Lot' A increased< ; more in -weight ihan .those in Lot B, but ■from: ;the- second week tho reverse was thoiiiasev, -The!-analysis-,.0r: the blood ; showed -thafi , that, : from' Lot• B .was, .poorer.in: fibrin and!:albumen v and ; of..ilqwer; specific gravity ,-ashad been expected,.-(The-joints of the dogs inLot B wero throughout of,a looser:structure, ■than those ,of.;LofoiA..vThe.marrow..- in the bones of Lot B showed' a : strikingly anaemic; 6'onditionV \ The .chemical analyjsis'bf the bones ■also proved their ;! looser structure, ■, while those. of Lot A contained .more minerals than those '■6t\UV-mr;J: }wr;i:,K j '■;■ '■• •' Besides' the, feeding, expenmentsi. investigations wore undertaken to ascertain tho; com-, position'of .ther.products give off by ■the'ialbiiminoid:bodios."when milk-, is boiled: or heated.. It : was found that when merely stood vin boiling water considerable quantities of ammonia" hydrogen, sulphide, and pbosphino were formed, all 'of which: are; injurious, tho two. last. f .even,poisonous. . , .;.,.. .',,./ ~

1 Conoliisliohs.j j': , .'\\\. ;.•■.-:.,;,•..; ..':'•:•':'. •. / .'Commenting' on these - experiments, the. '"Times* , of:-CopenhagenVC'.Berlinsko.f'Li-. lendb");- says that. to bo continued, but!so far"'they-go'to show that feeding, 'animals' on!-boilcd : milk is not.so-good forthorn as raw' milk,-mid. that, continued' ana exclusive use of , milk will.soon cause degeneration; "The rickets" so ■ofton- seen in,young I 'calves and pigs is 410 doubt , with 'the custqm of feeding them on separated milk 'from the co-operative dairy factories, which .'is i always- pasteurised!: ' At: 'present,' "however, ■'pasteurisation, is , considered ,the : only, moans of protection from the risks of diseaseborne epidemics. It woiild seem, indeed, that' it is a case of out. of the frying-pan into 'the. firo,.and tho moral clearly.is, that:otlicr.and better '.means should, he found."- '.' , • ~'. '..' •"/'.■■.- ■■■•/■ '■-'■'' '■ . ".. "'• . '■■''■ ■ Room ; for Research. ~ ... ... : ;,', ; -., : ■■• 'These rdsults-have a most, importantboar- ' irig on the ■ modern treatment of' milk. >■ The statomeht has been made to us that boiling 'under.-Very .•■ intense ..heat-strange though this may sound—avoids the injuries inflicted, by ordinary boiling, and-leaves the ■ milk even more digestible than ■'before it was treated.' -Tho question is. one-that may well he "investigated 'by- the capable 'specialists that' New Zealand possesses:'! -• '■"■' ... ■-,- ,: ■;■■•■:, \ ■■.;■■■■■■(. ; .: .'■■•'<:'