View report page

54
Report of the Medical Officer of Health for 1940.
the premises as dairies not being required when the milk is sold
in sealed receptacles. There are no cowsheds in the Borough.
The bulk of the milk sold by retail within the Borough is
sent out in bottles filled in properly constructed dairies, and its
quality is good. Of 743 samples submitted for analysis, 731
were genuine and showed an average fat content of 3 55. The
12 samples reported against were formal samples. Nine contained
extraneous water, varying from 1½ to 3½ per cent. and three
were found to be 8, 28 and 34 perc ent. deficient in fat respectively.
Police Court proceedings were taken in the last two cases.
These were dismissed under the Probation of Offenders Act on
payment of £2 2s. costs in each case. In the other 10 cases the
Public Health Committee decided to warn the vendors.
75 samples were taken from milk vendors in the street during
the early morning hours, 91 on delivery to hospitals in the Borough
and four on delivery to Wandsworth Prison. All these samples
were reported as genuine.
Milk utensils and barrows used in the delivery of milk are
inspected regularly in the streets.
The Milk (Special Designations) Order, 1936.
67 licences for the sale of designated milks were granted
during the year—39 for Tuberculin Tested Milk and 28 for
Pasteurised Milk.
Meat.
There are still four private slaughterhouses licensed in the
Borough, but three of them were closed early in 1940, as the
slaughtering of animals has been centralised by the Government.
The remaining slaughterhouse only operates for killing pigs.
The inspectors continued to visit the slaughterhouses as
long as animals were killed there. 85 animals were inspected
before slaughter and 440 carcases after slaughter; 67 of these
were oxen, 77 calves, 274 sheep and 22 pigs. The number of
animals and carcases examined shows a large reduction on the