London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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sold by the retailer having been previously sampled and found below
the limit (including cases where a warranty defence was set up).
The number of samples of milk taken in each of the last eleven years are as follows:—
| 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | 1905. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | 1909. | 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | 491 | 608 | 741 | 831 | 806 | 792 | 860 | 951 | 947 | 911 | 873 |
| Separated, condensed, sterilised or dried | 55 | 55 | 31 | 36 | 11 | 31 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 8 |
| Total | 546 | 663 | 772 | 867 | 817 | 823 | 878 | 967 | 960 | 923 | 881 |
Infringement of Section 9, Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899.—
Two persons were cautioned for failure to have name and address on
milk cans.
Skimmed or Separated Milk.—It will be remembered that on the
18th January, 1912, the Council expressed the opinion to the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries that the Sale of Milk Regulations, 1901, should
he amended so as to treat "skimmed milk" and "separated milk"
(i.e., machine skimmed milk) as dissimilar articles, and that a standard
should be fixed for each. The Board replied, however, on the 12th
February, 1912, that, according to the information before them, purchasers
who demanded " skimmed milk " generally referred not to hand
skimmed milk, but to machine skimmed milk, which was the form of
" skimmed " milk most commonly offered for sale, and, so far as they
were aware, there was no reason to suppose that purchasers of skimmed
milk were being defrauded. They added that no complaints of unfair
competition had been received from sellers of hand skimmed milk, and,
in the circumstances, it did not appear that any practical advantage
would be gained by the amendment of the regulations in the manner
proposed.
A letter has since been received from the Board of Agriculture and
Fisheries, dated the 20th August, 1912, enclosing copy of the Sale of
Milk Regulations, 1912, in which they state that these regulations
amend the Sale of Milk Regulations, 1901, in so far as they relate to
skimmed or separated milk, and replace the limit of 9 per cent, of total
milk.solids on which, under Article 3 of these regulations, a presumption
that the milk is not genuine is based, by a limit of 8'7 per cent, of milk
solids other than milk.fat; that representations have been received
from time to time from local authorities of districts where there is a
trade in skimmed and separated milk that considerable practical
difficulties arise in instituting proceedings in cases in which water has
been added to skimmed milk, but, owing to the fact that the milk has