View report page

98
Milk.—364 samples of milk were submitted for analysis and of this
number twelve or 3.2 per cent. were certified as adulterated or below
the standard fixed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. The
average composition of these milk samples is set out below:—

By the early nineteen twenties the number of cowsheds or cowhouses
in the Borough was gradually diminishing, there being 11 licensed with
a total of 428 cows in 1914 and in 1919 6 cowsheds and 270 cows. The
increasing urbanisation accounted for this. This trend continued after
the war, and for many years now there have not been any cowsheds or
cows kept within the Borough boundaries. The number of slaughterhouses
too has lessened, there being 12 in 1919 and none in 1961.
The colouring of milk a practice which is illegal nowadays was
quite common at the beginning of the century and was commented on
in the reports for 1908. "Of the milks examined during 1908, 51.5 per
cent were artificially coloured compared with 66.4 per cent in 1907 and
77.4 per cent in 1906. From these figures it would appear that the
practice of colouring milk with various colouring matters to suit the
demands of the public is slowly decreasing in this Borough, Annatto is
the material most commonly used, but aniline dyes are not infrequently
reverted to".
As can be seen from the following table the adulteration of milk
dramatically decreased through the years until in recent years it appeared
to increase. The explanation for this is simple, and was not harmful.
A number of samples of hot milk were taken from cafes during this
period when the practice of heating milk by steam injection was in
vogue. This method raised the water content of the milk to an illegal
extent. After a number of prosecutions the practice ceased as far as this
Borough was concerned. Nowadays it is usual for milk in cafes to be
heated by air injection.