Milk

Abstract

Introduction: The use of milk is general and not limited to any class or locality; it is regarded as a necessity by almost every family and because of this, we cannot glean too much information regarding it. This is doubly important when we think of the failure of Americans to appreciate the food value of milk and its products. Although this is one of the greatest dairy countries in the world, it does not lead in the per capita consumption of dairy products. In some of the older European countries two or three times as much milk and cheese is consumed per capita as in the United States. However, the average consumption of milk is high in many parts of this country, and, assisted by improved methods of production and transportation, it seems to be increasing. Milk contains all the ingredients needed for nourishment; that is, it furnishes the materials which build up the body and keep it in repair, and also those which supply it with fuel to keep it warm. and to furnish the energy needed to do its work. It is not a perfect food, but it is a complete food; that is, it contains all the food elements but not in the proportion needed. However, it is the most nearly perfect food, and is one of the best types of what may be termed a well-balanced food. It is not only the best, but one of the cheapest of human foods, especially as a source of proteid. But its use as a food is not fully appreciated. It should be regarded as a regular article of diet, as bread, meat and vegetables, remembering, of course, that the diet of the adult must not contain so large a percentage as that of a child. The fact that nature has provided milk as the sole article in the diet of a child for a certain period of its life only augments the importance of its place in the general diet. To the ordinary observer it appears...