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 London 1924
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London, City of ]
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35
TUBERCULOSIS IN MILK.
Whilst the information obtained as a result of sampling at railway stations was
under consideration, the Sanitary Committee instructed me to ascertain the results
which certain other Authorities had obtained when examining milk bacteriologically.
Through the courtesy of the respective Medical Officers of Health, the following
information was obtained. It will be seen that marked variation is shown. The
percentage in the City for 1923 is similar to that recorded in the area of the London
County Council for 1922, but the results for the latter area have almost invariably
been lower than the results in the City.
One positive conclusion which can be drawn from these figures is that the
presence of tubercle in milk is still far too prevalent an occurrence.
BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS OF MILK CONDUCTED BY CITY OF LONDON AND OTHER AUTHORITIES DURING 1919.1923.
| Authority. | 1919. | 1920. | 1921. | 1922. | 1923. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Samples Examined. | Positive Results. | Percentage. | No. of Samples Examined. | Positive Results. | Percentage. | No. of Samples Examined. | Positive Results. | Percentage. | No. of Samples Examined. | Positive Results. | Percentage. | No. of Samples Examined. | Positive Results. | Percentage. | |
| City of London | 27 | 4 | 14.8 | Nil. | ...... | ...... | 29 | 7 | 24.2 | 42 | 4 | 9.5 | 39 | l | |
| 19 | 4 | 26.3 | |||||||||||||
| 24 | 3 | 12.5 | |||||||||||||
| London County Council | 943 | 61 | 6.5 | 1,294 | 76 | 5.9 | 1,808 | 63 | 3.48 | 2,284 | ...... | ...... | ...... | ||
| City of Liverpool | 509 | 30 | 5.9 | 1,022 | 73 | 7.1 | 809 | 100 | 12.4 | 834 | 64 | 7.6 | ...... | ...... | ...... |
| City and County of Newcastle. upon.Tyne. | ...... | ...... | 3.6 | ...... | ............. | ...... | ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ | 7.0 | ........ | ........ | ........ |
| County Borough of Derby | ........ | ........ | ........ | 56 | 10.7 | 10 | 14.7 | 70 | 11 | 15.7 | 53 | 10 | |||
THE PUBLIC HEALTH (CONDENSED MILK) REGULATIONS, 1923.
Fifty-nine samples of condensed milk were taken and submitted to the Public
Analyst. Fifty-eight separate Brands were examined, as follows :—
Condensed Full Cream Milk Sweetened 17
Condensed Skimmed or Machine Skimmed Milk Sweetened 39
Condensed Skimmed Milk Unsweetened 1
Condensed Full Cream Milk Unsweetened 1
Total 58
In no instance was the condensed milk found to be below the required standard,
but in four cases the labels were not in conformity with the Regulations.
Eighteen notifications were received from the Ministry of Health of condensed
milk sampled by the Officers of H.M. Customs which infringed the Regulations,
and where the addresses of the consignees were situated within the City area.
Each of these was investigated and a report of the action taken furnished to the
Ministry. In the majority of cases the consignment of milk referred to did not
actually come into the City, the address being simply the official head-quarters of
the trading concern.