A hundred years ago Ladies Home Journal contained a monthly Food Facts column. The May, 1926 column was about milk. As someone who grew up on a dairy farm, my interest was immediately piqued. Some of the facts in the old magazine are the same as what I commonly hear today; others have changed over the years.
Milk: What Do You Know About It?
DO YOU KNOW that the chief value of milk in the diet is as a supplement to other foods, correcting their deficiencies?
This is Why milk is often called a “protective” food.
DO YOU KNOW that milk, because it meets nearly every food requirement, is the most satisfactory single article of food consumed by man?
This is Why there is no effective substitute for milk.
DO YOU KNOW that milk is not only essential to the growth of children but to the health and vigor of adults?
This is Why a quart of milk a day for a child and not less than a pint for an adult are essential to a proper diet.
DO YOU KNOW that no other food can be taken in sufficient quantity to supply the calcium needs of the body?
This is Why a diet that is short in milk in generally short in the lime which is needed for bone structure.
DO YOU KNOW that the best milk will spoil when it is not kept clean and cold?
This is Why the careless housekeeper frequently ruins milk that has been carefully handled by farmer and distributor.
DO YOU KNOW that heating milk to 140° – 145° F. and keeping at this temperature for twenty to thirty minutes destroys most of the harmful bacteria which it may contains?
This is Why pasteurized milk is generally safer than raw milk for those who must depend on a city milk supply.
DO YOU KNOW that the lactic-acid bacteria which sour milk are not harmful or putrefactive bacteria?
This is Why we should distinguish between sour milk, which is useful, and spoiled milk, which should be thrown away.
DO YOU KNOW that from the standpoint of nutrition skim milk is worth more than the cream which is taken off it?
This is Why more use should be made of skim milk in breadmaking and other cooking processes.
DO YOU KNOW that a low temperature – under 50° F. – is the only preservation needed for clean milk?
This is Why milk that is both clean and cold can be kept sweet for three to four weeks.
DO YOU KNOW that because of its wide use as a food, milk is more closely supervised in the United States than any other article of diet?
This is Why we have the most wholesome milk supply in the world.
Food-Facts Information Service
The Ladies Home Journal
Ladies Home Journal (May, 1926)
I was listening to a podcast on the greatest changes in US health. During the Great Depression, mortality rates went down, and the reason was pasteurized milk. It is scary to think that milk was once very dangerous.