Science: Milk

It is impracticable for hospitals to keep a row of wet nurses on call in an anteroom. Nevertheless mother’s milk is often needed in a hurry for premature babies. Last week at the Mother’s Milk Bureau of Manhattan’s Children’s Welfare Federation a group of medical men were shown a method of preserving human milk, an emulsion much less stable than cow’s milk, for periods up to a year.

Developed by Dr. Paul W. Emerson, Harvard pediatrician, and Washington Platt of Borden Co., the method is freezing. The milk is drawn from the donors into sterile containers, poured into metal molds kept by dry-ice packing at -109°. In two minutes the milk is frozen solid. It is then sliced into wafers, packed in sterile bottles and stored at -15°. To prepare it for use nothing is necessary but thawing.

Researches by Dr. Walter H. Eddy of Columbia’s Teacher’s College have indicated that freezing and thawing do not alter the content of vitamins, solids, fats, carbohydrates or proteins in mother’s milk.

In Food Industries this week Howard T. Greene, Wisconsin dairy manager, described a new method of packing cow’s milk so that it keeps fresh much longer than usual. Instead of a paper cap in the bottle’s mouth, a tight metal cap with gasket is used. Just before the cap is thrust home, live steam is introduced beneath it. This condenses in the bottle top, creating a partial vacuum. Packed in this way the milk keeps fresh for 48 hours at room temperature, six weeks in arefrigerator.