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1899]
220
All these milks were analysed by Mr. F. L. Teed, D.Sc. (London),
who is the Public Analyst for Islington, and who found that only
one milk procured at the railway stations showed a lower
percentage of the parts than the standard laid down by Somerset
House, which is altogether too low in the figures for fat. Their
standard lends itself to the dishonest abstraction of fat, or rather I
should say to the addition of separated milk to genuine milk, for your
modern vendor does not trouble himself to skim his milk. He
prefers the easier practice of adding to genuine milk machine
separated milk, worth half the price. Once he knows the amount
of fat in his milk, it becomes a very easy matter for him to reduce
it to the " standard " of Somerset House by adding the necessary
quantity of the inferior article.
The use of Preservatives in milk lends itself to fraud, because it
enables milk vendors to keep skimmed or separated milks sufficiently
sweet for the purpose of mixing with genuine milks. Without
their aid it would be more difficult, because it must be recollected
that as a rule separated milk is older at least by a day, and sometimes
even more, than the genuine milk.
In Table CX. I have shown that the average analysis of the
milk from the farmers, taken from the railway stations in 1899 was
Fat ... ... ... 4*23 per cent.
Solids not Fat ... 8*82 „
Now by the addition of separated milk, which usually contains
0.25 per cent of fat and 9.2 per cent, of solids not fat, in proper
proportion to the farmers' milk, it is possible to produce the
standard milk of Somerset House. It may be done, and I suppose
is largely done as follows:—