London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Lewisham 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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Table 36
| Dealer's | Supplementary | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licences issued for :— sale of pasteurised milk | 55 | 18 | 73 | ||
| sale of tuberculin tested milk | 52 | 18 | 70 | ||
| sale of sterilised milk | 85 | 20 | 105 | ||
| sale of accredited milk | 4 | 4 | |||
| TOTALS | 196 | S6 | 252 | ||
Analysis of milk
During the year under review, 100 samples of milk were submitted
for examination to the Public Analyst by the Council's inspectors.
None of these samples was certified as adulterated or below standard.
The average composition of the samples is set out in the following
table :—
Table 37
| Period | Samples | Average composition of samples examined Percentage of | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk fat | Solids not fat | Water | ||
| First quarter | 34 | 3.44 | 8.78 | 87.78 |
| Second quarter | 18 | 3.34 | 8.77 | 87.89 |
| Third quarter | 27 | 3.60 | 8.92 | 87.48 |
| Fourth quarter | 21 | 3.76 | 8.94 | 87.30 |
| TOTALS | 100 | 3.53 | 885 | 87.62 |
The legal standard is 3.0 percent milk fat and 8.5 percent solids not fat.
Examination of heattreated milk—pasteurised
It is a requirement of the Milk (Special Designation) (Pasteurised
and Sterilised Milk) Regulations, 1949, that a sample of milk taken in
accordance with Part I of the third schedule after pasteurisation and
before delivery to the consumer shall satisfy the prescribed phosphatase
test. After pasteurisation and on the day of, but before delivery to, the
consumer pasteurised milk must satisfy the requirements of the methylene
blue test.
The phosphatase test is a colorimetric test. The enzyme phosphatase
is not destroyed if milk is heated only to lower temperatures or for
shorter periods than those prescribed but is completely destroyed
where pasteurisation to the required legal standard has been carried