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19
Cow's milk formed the chief artificial food given to hand-fed
and partly hand-fed infants, condensed milk being used in only 9 cases.
Other food given consisted of patent foods, nursery biscuits, white
and whole meal bread, oatmeal, gruel and arrowroot.
This enquiry was more satisfactory than I had anticipated, and
the information has since been confirmed from another source. The
firm of Nestle & Co. has undertaken an investigation in different
parts of London upon the effects of feeding infants upon condensed
whole milk, and the extent of the use, for this purpose of separated
condensed milk. With this object they have established from time to
time local "Depots," and one of these was opened during 1909, in
the Stoke Newington Road. The representative in charge of this
Depot has written as follows :—
"As I understand, from yours of the 20th inst., you wish for
particulars of the depot work so far undertaken in the poorer neighbourhoods
of London, 1 have pleasure in briefly giving you the
available figures.
"In Poplar and Bow districts, where we had first weighs of nearly
three thousand infants, the larger proportion were breast-fed, and
fairly healthy; but we found no less than 25 per cent., principally
from the districts abutting on East India Dock Road and Crisp Street,
were suffering from the ill-effects of machine-skimmed condensed
milk feeding.
"Condensed Milk was the determining factor of the sale generally,
and in many cases "machine-skimmed" conveyed to them some
special virtue of quality or cleanly preparation not possessed by "full
cream."
"In Southwark and Bermondsey about 15 per cent. of the 2,800
babies weighed were proved to be fed on machine-skims (condensed).
In Bethnal Green we reached 25 per cent. mark again as to condensed
machine-skims, out of 2,000 babies weighed, but dropped to a point
below 10 per cent. at Hoxton out of 1,200 babies recorded. Millwall
showed even less proportion (750 babies weighed), and at Hackney
and Stoke Newington only two babies were found fed on machineskimmed
condensed milk out of about 2,000 babies examined.
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