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1919
22
The State of New York have issued Regulations which came
into force in November, 1914, and which described explicitly the
nature of the grades in milk. There are 3 grades—A., B. & C.—
Raw and Pasteurised.
Grade A. Raw must not contain more than 60,000 bacteria
per c.c. at any time previous to the delivery of the milk to the consumer.
Under the same conditions Grade A. pasteurised must not
contain more than 30,000 per cubic centimetre, Grade B. raw must
not contain more than 200,000 per c.c. and Grade B. pasteurised
not more than 100,000 per c.c.
Grade C. raw and pasteurised has no bacterial standard, but
can only be used for cooking and manufacturing purposes.
The Cows from which the milk of Grade A. is obtained must
have been tested at least once in the previous year with tuberculin
and any tuberculous cow must be excluded from the herd.
For Grade B. the cows must be healthy, as disclosed by an
annual physical examination.
Very little, if any of the milk retailed in Acton complies
with the conditions of Grade A and Grade B, and yet the Regulations
issued by the Department of Health for the City of New York
define milk of Grade A only as being suitable for infants and children.
If we examine the sources of the external milk supply of
London, we can easily understand that the milk is open to all the
sources of contamination. Most of the milk sold in Acton is produced
in the counties of Berks, Buckingham, Oxford, Somerset and
Wilts. ; the last county is responsible for 18.7 per cent. of the total
extreme supply of milk sold in London.
Milk (Mothers and Children) Order, 1918.
A circular letter was received from the Ministry of Health
on the subject of milk for expectant and nursing mothers and for
infants and children under 5 years of age.
Before dealing with the measures advocated by the Ministry,
in order to ensure that no mother or childies shall suffer from insufficient
supply of milk on account of the high prices ruling
may be advisable to set forth the Orders and Instructions issued by
the Ministry of Health and the Food Controller.