London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Holborn 1923

Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health, for the year 1923

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21
being present in the spleen, liver, lungs, glands and peritoneum. The infection was
therefore very virulent and the inability to trace the source of production illustrates
the weakness of the present position.
In the case of the second sample the producing farm was disclosed and the
information forwarded to the Medical Officer of Health of the London County Council.
The Veterinary Inspector of that Council visited the farm and examined 98 cows and
reported them to be healthy with one exception, viz. a cow showing evidence of
tuberculous disease which had been "put dry" a month before the inspection. The
date however would be after the date when the sample was purchased.

The following table refers to the six samples examined as mentioned above:—

Date sample taken.Nature of Shop where purchased.No. of Organising per cc. grown at 37° C for 24 hours.Minimal volume containing Bacillus Coli.
1923 Not. 20Small milkshop11,7500.01 cc.
Nov. 20Small milkshop28,0000.001 cc,
Not. 14Large milkshop32,0001 cc.
Nov. 14Small milkshop55,0000.001 cc.
Nov. 20Small milkshop240,0000.001 cc
Nov. 14Large milkshop420,0000. 001 cc.

The result of our investigations bring out very clearly the fact that the practice
of mixing milk from various farms before sale to the customer has the disadvantage of
almost rendering void the efforts of local authorities, remote from the place of production of
the milk, to trace the source of contamination of the milk consumed by the inhabitants
of their areas; this makes all the more necessary inspection of dairies, milking and
herds by the local authorities of the areas in which the milk is produced and
examination of the milk not only as it enters these large creameries where it is
mixed, but also as it leaves, for from time to time it would seem that certain of
the churns of milk supplied by the farmers are by error not emptied in the mixing vats
but pass out in their original state, escaping the cleansing process which unfortunately
is the chief safeguard to-day to prevent the presence of dirt in milk.
This is not the place to labour the point that it is the invisible dirt in milk, i.e.,
bacteria, that the milk trade should endeavour to prevent. The effort, however, to get
rid of the grosser impurities in milk will inevitably bring the effort to prevent bacterial
contamination in its train.
The Milk (Special Designations) Order, 1923.
This Order, which was issued in May, 1923, and came into force on the 1st July,
1923, revoked the Milk (Special Designations) Order, 1922, and the Milk (Special
Designations) Amendment Order, 1922, as from that date.
The new Order does not alter the general scheme of grading at present in operation
but it provides for some relaxation of the conditions under which licences may be