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33
It is now the practice in this Borough, before consideration
is given to an application for permission to sell milk, to
require a written undertaking from the applicant that he will
not sell any of these articles.
The premises used for the sale of milk must be efficiently
lighted and ventilated, and must not communicate directly
with any room used for sleeping or with any water-closet.
The floor of the shop must be kept clear, so as to allow of
effectual cleansing, and all vessels containing milk must, at
all times, be kept properly covered. Frequent inspections are
made to see that these regulations are complied with.
The delivery of milk to the consumer in glass bottles has,
of recent years, greatly increased, and in such cases the Milk
and Dairies Order requires that the bottles shall be filled in
the dairy.
The present state of legislation, however, still permits milk
to be retailed in the streets from hand-cans. These hand-cans
must of necessity, be opened for varying periods whilst the
milk is being measured out, and thus expose the milk to contamination
from manure and dirt from the roadway.
The question of cleanliness of milk bottles is one which
receives special attention in this Borough. In a number of
cases the washing of bottles has been found to be carried out
in a casual manner, and constant supervision is necessary to
ensure clean bottles.
The ideal milk supply would be one produced under ideal
conditions and bottled at the farm, as is the case with
"certified" milk. The cost of transport to the towns would,
perhaps, prevent the adoption of such a system on a large
scale. Although not attaining our ideal, the system in operation
at one dairy in this Borough has much to commend it.
All milk to this dairy is delivered direct from the farms to
a private railway siding on the premises. From the time of
its arrival until it leaves the premises in bottles, the milk is
subjected to the minimum of exposure and handling. After
pre-heating, the milk is passed through a series of pipes to a
number of centrifugal clarifiers. From these it is conveyed
by a further series of pipes to "Pasteurizing" plant of the
"Holding" type, from whence, after cooling, it is passed to
numerous automatic bottle-filling machines. After every
batch of milk has been dealt with, the whole of the plant,
including all pipes, is thoroughly cleansed with boiling water.
In use at these premises are some of the largest bottlewashing
machines in the world. An average of 40,000 gallons
of milk per day are dealt with at this dairy.
Although much still requires to be done before a satisfactory
milk supply is assured, considerable improvement has
been made during recent years in the milk supplies of London.