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Samples taken in course of Delivery—
(a) At Railway Stations.—-Sixty-eight samples of milk were taken
on arrival at Victoria and Charing Cross Railway Stations; eight of
these were found to have been consigned as separated milk, but no label
was affixed to the churns. Of the remaining sixty, 44 were reported
of good quality, 8 fair, 3 poor, and 5 adulterated (8'3 per cent.). The
amount of adulteration was not above 3 per cent, in each instance.
(b) On Delivery at Shops.—Twenty-nine samples of milk were taken
as it was being delivered to retail customers. Of these samples, 14
were good, 9 fair, 1 poor, and 5 adulterated. These samples were taken
in consequence of the milk sold by the retailer having been previously
Sampled and found below the limit.
Warranties.—A conference of representatives of Metropolitan
Borough Councils as to milk warranties, &c., was held at the Town
Hall, Southwark, on Wednesday, the 30th May, 1906.
The following resolutions were passed:—
(1) That in the opinion of this Conference, the provisions of Section
25 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, and Section 20 of
the Food and Drugs Amendment Act, 1899, operate to the
prejudice of the purchaser and the public health, and should be
repealed, leaving the seller of milk to his remedy at. common
law against the person from whom he purchases it.
(2) That notices in shops, &o., to the effect that milk sold therein is
not warranted as pure shall be no defence.
(3) That the act of mixing water or separated milk with whole milk
for the purpose of sale should be made a penal offence.
Particulars of all cases in which warranties are proved are forwarded
by the Council to the Local Government Board. In one instance
proceedings were taken unsuccessfully against the giver of a warranty,
but the case showed how desirable it would have been had the
magistrate been able to deal with the matter as a whole, on one
summons. However, a sample taken at Vauxhall Railway Station by
the Lambeth Borough Council was found deficient, and the farmer was
summoned and fined. Samples in other cases were also taken, by
request, by Lambeth and Paddington Borough Councils at railway
stations.
Separated Milk.—A considerable quantity of separated milk is
consigned to dealers in the City, and while there are legitimate uses for
it, I have a strong suspicion that it is also used to dilute milk of good
quality. As this separated milk is sent up in churns, without any label
to show the nature of its contents, the Council addressed a communication
to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries forwarding particulars
of a case in which a sample of milk taken at Victoria Station, whilst in