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who will require to be satisfied as to the arrangements proposed and will
repay the approved cost of examinations. The Minister thinks it desirable
that samples of " Certified " Milk should be taken on the average at the
rate of about one sample a month for each producer, the samples generally
being taken from time to time from all the distributors concerned. A set
of instructions as to the taking and testing of samples will be issued shortly.
When an unfavourable report is received with regard to a sample of
" Grade A (Tuberculin Tested) " or " Grade A " Milk the special attention
of the distributor should be drawn to the matter, and he should be advised
to take steps to discover the cause of the defect and to remedy it if it is due
to any default of his own, or to arrange with the producer to do so if the
latter is responsible. If a further unfavourable report is received, it will be
necessary for the Authority to consider whether they should take steps
under Article 9 of the Order to suspend or revoke the licence, and in this
connection it may be observed that a distributor who cannot deliver milk
that regularly satisfies the prescribed tests is not entitled to hold a licence,
even though the failure may be due to the conditions of his source of supply,
and not to any fault of his own.
Notwithstanding the precautions taken in the examination of the herd
it may occasionally happen that tubercle bacillus is found in milk of any
grade. If this should at any time be reported, full information should
at once be given to the Minister or the County Council, as the case may be,
who will inform the producer and require him to take steps to ascertain
which animals are affected and to remove them from the herd. The steps
taken would generally include bacteriological examinations of the milk of
individual cows or groups of cows, and the licensing authority will no doubt
facilitate the enquiry by arranging, where necessary, for the bacteriological
examinations at an appropriate charge.
" Pasteurised " Milk.
The Order lays down the general conditions governing the sale of
milk as " Pasteurised," the essential condition in the matter of treatment
being that the milk must be held at a temperature between 145 degrees and
150 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of at least half an hour. It is desirable
for purposes of control that every pasteurising plant should be provided
with an automatic recording apparatus.
The prescribed conditions definitely exclude the " flash pasteurisation "
process by which milk is heated to a high temperature (e.g. , 170 degrees) for
a short period. But it is also to be observed that the apparatus must be
such that all the milk is held for the prescribed period, and in examining
other types of pasteurisers, it will be for the Licensing Authority to deter-