Dale, My mom's brother worked for the Mt. Vernon Carnation plant all his life. I can still recall a black and white photo that she had of the entire staff, not sure when it was taken, but maybe 50's or 60's. Jean Cuevas At 10:49 AM 5/17/00 -0400, you wrote: >I do not know if Carnation Milk is still prepared as it was in 1941 with >respect to the ultra-violet (UV) light radiation. However, the basic process >is probably still used. Carnation Condensed Milk is prepared by homogenizing >to break up the butterfat particles and evaporating 50% of the contained >water (they call it "cooking"). Vitamin D is added during this part of the >process. The milk is (or at least for years it was) sealed in cans and then >the canned milk is sterilized by passing through a steam heated chamber for >a specified period of time at a specified temperature. > >The effect of UV light on certain organic chemical molecules has been known >to chemists for years, and I am aware of recent research at a major U.S. >chemical company in which UV light exposure was investigated as a means to >break up an undesired impurity in an industrial chemical. UV light is >emitted by the sun (that's what causes sunburn) and by artifical lighting. >It is invisible to the naked eye. However, it is not a subatomic particle >(i.e. not a particle from an atom) such as gamma, beta, etc. I am not >familiar with the patent referenced and do not know the reason for the UV >irradiation other than to surmise that one or more molecules in the milk >would be changed to another chemical form much the same way heat can break >down molecules. > >My knowledge on the Carnation Milk process is from working two summers in the >condensary at Mt. Vernon while in college. > > Dale West