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INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF
FOOD AND FOOD PREMISES.
Provision of a Safe Milk Supply.
Every year deaths occur in this country due to milk infected
with bovine tuberculosis. At present, the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries is responsible for all matters directly
affecting the health of cattle. Until it is possible to eradicate
tuberculosis from cattle, all milk intended for human consumption
should be subjected to heat treatment in licensed
plants under adequate supervision.
It is the practice for the Sampling Officer to submit samples
of raw milk taken from cows kept in the cowshed in this Borough,
for biological testing for the detection of tubercle bacilli. During
1949, 11 samples of raw milk were taken for this purpose and
of that number one was found to contain tubercle bacilli.
Prior to the Ist October, 1949, if a sample was found to be
positive, particulars were forwarded immediately to the County
Medical Officer of Health and the Divisional Veterinary Officer
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, who arranged for
one of the Ministry's Veterinary Officers to visit the cowshed
and carry out both clinical examination of the cattle and
sampling of the milk from individual cows or groups of cows.
Since the Ist October, 1949, power has been vested in the
Medical Officer of Health, under the Milk and Dairies Regulations,
1949, to enable him to prevent the sale of milk for human
consumption or to require such milk to be heat-treated, if there
is evidence that it is infected with disease communicable to
man.
In the course of time, under the provisions of the Milk
(Special Designations) Act, 1949, Camberwell may be declared a
"specified area," i.e., an area in which the retail sale of milk
will be restricted to special designated milk. When this occurs,
then, and only then, can Camberwell be considered a "safe
milk area."
Milk (Special Designations) Act, 1949.
This Act, which came into operation on Ist October, 1949,
provides that the use of a special designation in relation to
milk sold retail shall be compulsory in areas to be specified by
the Minister of Food, but it is within the power of the Minister
to consent to the sale of milk without the use of a special
designation in certain circumstances. Camberwell has not yet
been specified as an area for this purpose.