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105
Recommendations.
I would suggest that a circular letter be sent to all those milk-vendors whose premises
or trade are such as to need considerable alteration if they are to continue to sell milk,
pointing out this fact and containing a printed list of conditions constituting a standard
to which they must conform. They should be informed that unless they conform to the
standard their name will be removed from the register, which removal will make it
illegal for them to sell milk. This course of action has been taken in certain boroughs,
including Lambeth and Kensington.
I suggest the following list of requirements:—
(1) The premises to be kept in good condition, and to be adequately and
permanently ventilated and adequately lighted.
(2) The floor to be kept clear of articles which lumber it up in such a way as to
prevent easy cleansing of the floor; and the premises and contents to be so
constructed and arranged as to be capable of being maintained in a
satisfactory state of cleanliness.
(3) The premises to be kept at all times clean, and the floor scrubbed and swept
at proper intervals.
(4) The milk-vessel or vessels to be provided with a suitably constructed metal
cover, and all milk to be kept properly covered.
(5) No paraffin or firewood, and no strong-smelling or dirty goods to be sold in the
milkshop. (In this category are included coal, coke, coal-blocks, hearthstone,
potatoes, onions, pickles, fish, &c.)
(6) The provisions of all orders and regulations in force respecting the sale of
milk, and of Sec. 8 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1908
(relating to the conditions under which food may be sold or exposed or
deposited for the purposes of sale) to be observed.
In regard to future applications for the registration of new purveyors of milk I suggest
that no ordinary general shops be regarded as suitable except under special
circumstances.
I am, &c.,
Your obedient Servant,
T. SHADICK HIGGINS,
Medical Officer of Health.
The suggestions in the report were adopted by the Council on 14th January,
1914, and the matter again came np for discussion by the Council on 6th May,
1914, when requirement No. 5 was amended to the following form:—
"(5). No paraffin to be sold in the milkshop, and no firewood or strongsmelling
or dirty goods to be stored in the milkshop. (In this category are
included coal, coke, coal-blocks, hearthstone, potatoes, onions, loose pickles,
fish, etc.)."
On 26th January a circular letter was sent to the shopkeepers of those of
the 389 milkshops which were not considered to be kept in a suitable condition
for the sale of milk. The letter stated that the Council were considering the
removal from the register of the names of those milksellers whose premises
were regarded as unsuitable for the sale of milk, and set out the list of
conditions which the Council had adopted as a standard in this respect. The
letter was sent in regard to 240 milkshops, In consequence of this action a
number of the shops were brought into compliance with Council's requirements,
and in certain other cases the sale of milk was abandoned. There were