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Quality of Milk Supplies
In my Report for last year, there appeared a report on
the apparent deterioration of milk supplies, which, in
conjunction with the Council's Public Analyst, Dr. H.
Amphlett Williams, I submitted to the Council in July of
that year.
In October, 1954, the subject of unsatisfactory milk
supplies was again considered by the Public Health Committee
who submitted the following report to the Council :-
"In July, 1953, a detailed report was submitted
dealing with the deterioration of the quality of milk
supplies. Particular attention was drawn to the
increasing number of instances where samples of milk,
although below the presumptive standard of the Sale
of Milk Regulations, 1939, were shown to be as
produced by the cow, in which circumstances there
was no offence for which legal proceedings could be
instituted.
Figures quoted in an article by the Chief Analyst
of one of the largest milk distributors, and collated
over a period of fifty years, revealed that in the
period 1900-1950, the average content of milk had
declined as follows:-
Fat Solids-not-fat
3.78%-3. 62% 9. 05%-8. 74%
For the period 1926-1950, omitting the war years,
the figures for samples taken in Kensington showed
a similar tendency ;-
Fat Solids-not-fat
3. 66%-3. 52% 8. 78%-8. 8%
The Working Party on quality milk production
in 1950, whilst agreeing that deterioration in the
composition of milk had occurred over the past
thirty years, considered that the decline had been
more marked in the solids-not-fat content than in
the fat content, and that much of this decline