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35
by the St. Pancras Borough Council under Section 47 of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891, for depositing for sale at Euston Station milk that was
unwholesome and unfit for food. It having been proved that the milk in
question contained fæcal matter, pus cells, and bacilli of Tuberculosis, the
defendant was fined 25l, and 5l. 5s. costs. The case is notable as being the
first of the kind with regard to milk, and should have a good effect in
awakening farmers to a sense of their responsibilities and the importance of
cleanliness in handling milk. An appeal to the pocket to the extent of over £30
is likely to protect the public better than a benevolent admonition in cases of
this kind.
One important point requires consideration, viz., the advisability in the
interests of public health of publishing the name of the dairyman, in any case
where full information is not given as to the source of any contaminated
supply, and where immediate investigation is not made as to the sanitary
condition of the farm and the health of the cows, and where steps are not
taken to discontinue the supply until any insanitary conditions found are
removed. This is necessary, inasmuch as the consumers are unaware of the
conditions under which the milk is produced, and are therefore unable to
protect themselves against an undoubted danger to health.
It is evident that generally the milk trade is conducted under most
unsatisfactory conditions, there being no guarantee whatever that milk as
usually sold is free from infection, or even that it is reasonably clean, as out of
61 samples examined during the past two years no less than 22, or 36 per
cent., were contaminated with filth.
The only remedy is to insist upon the Dairies and Cowsheds Regulations
being enforced by Local Authorities, by giving powers to County Councils to
act in default, and further, to sanction Central interference where this is not
sufficient. In the meantime, I recommend that further evidence be obtained
by bacterial examination of samples on the same lines, especially of those
supplied by the Dairy Companies referred to in previous Reports.
There is no difficulty in securing a clean milk supply if cowkeepers carry
out the simple recommendations of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
which the Board desire to be made known to all interested in the subject.
These are embodied in a leaflet issued in July last, in which the subject is
dealt with in a practical and common-sense manner. Attention is chiefly
directed to cleanliness in the dairy, cleanliness in the management and
housing of cows, and cleanliness in milking. The sources of bacterial
contamination so inimical to milk are also clearly indicated, and photographs
of plate cultivations graphically illustrate the very material differences which
exist between dirty and cleanly cows, pails, and byres.
The importance of "grooming" cows, especially in winter time, when they
pass most of their time under cover, is insisted upon, and simple directions
are given for keeping the animals under proper sanitary conditions, dealing