carries the germ.
Second — contamination of the milk with the microbe by the owners of the livestock themselves or by the cheese makers.
Third — the vessels and cloths used for making cheese are easily contaminated and thus become a permanent source of the "staphylococcus" germ if they are not thoroughly sterilized after every cheese-making operation.
Fourth — warming the contaminated milk and keeping it lukewarm for a few hours creates for the microbes an ideal atmosphere for their multiplication.
Fifth — the resulting milk curd is exposed to contamination with the "staphylococcus" germ through the vessels used for straining and through the hands of the persons engaged in making the cheese.
Sixth — the salting of the cheese, commonly held to be the ideal method of preserving cheese, becomes in such a case — that is, when the cheese is contaminated with the poisoning germ — a cause of increased danger.
How can cheese be prevented from becoming poisonous? It may be said that this problem is a very complicated one and has not yet been studied practically among us; it has therefore been difficult to answer this question.
There is one way only to save ourselves and to save our families from poisoning, and that is to refrain from eating green cheese.
Yet such measures, even were they imposed by law as is the case in Lebanon, may not solve the problem of the green-cheese industry from the economic and
social standpoint, because a large number of persons make their living from the making and the trade of green cheese — an industry that consumes a quantity of milk.
What is beyond doubt is that public health, for us, is fundamental; and of what use is material profit if we expose ourselves to the danger of poisoning?
Green cheese has up to now caused hundreds of cases in Lebanon, and the scientific laboratories in Lebanon are engaged in studying this subject, which will require a long time before a decisive result is reached.
In any case, our scientific effort — and these are facts from which there is no escape and which must be stated — has not yet succeeded in supplying the methods that would let us make green cheese without its being contaminated by the poisonous germs.
All that we advise is to refrain from eating green cheese, for it is established that this green cheese for the most part carries poison to man. We also advise that the milk we use in making green cheese be used instead to make labneh and laban, which do not cause cases of poisoning.
Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, president of the General Arab Women's Union, passed during the last month through a health crisis that confined her to bed and stirred the anxious concern of family and friends. Delegations of ladies streamed to her summer residence in Aley to inquire after her health and be reassured, raising supplications and prayers to God to preserve the beloved women's leader from all harm.
We thank God, and The Woman's Voice is pleased to bring its readers a piece of glad news: Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura is recovering little by little, and it is hoped, thanks to complete rest and treatment, that she will soon regain her full health and strength, and return to her former activity in the fields of public service.