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25
With regard to the L.C.C. houses, although to-day there
are few cases of crowding in them, it is feared that a serious
position must arise in the course of a few years. It was seen
above that the average population of these houses was 2.16
adults and 3.3 children under 15. Most of these children are
to-day small, and can be habited in one room at night. The
difficulty will arise when these same children have reached
the age of adolescence and will need separate sleeping
accommodation.
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD.
(a) Milk Supply.
There are in the district 31 Milk retailers, 17 Dairies and
Milkshops and 5 Cowsheds. The latter figure does not include
two cowsheds the use of which was discontinued during the; year.
One licence for "Grade A," one supplementary licence for
"Grade A," and one supplementary licence for ''Pasteurised"
milk are at present in operation in the area.
Only a relatively small amount of the milk distributed here
is produced in the district, though much of it is bottled in the
locality. While bottling has certain hygienic advantages in
that the milk is subjected to less exposure, and there is the
possibility of less contamination in transit and in the home, it
does seem that the practice might in certain circumstances,
result in increased risk through contamination of the bottles
and residual milk, before return to the retailer. This danger is
the more real when home nursing of infectious diseases has to be
carried out. While this risk is remote in the case of firms employing
an elaborate plant providing for steam sterilisation of
the bottles, it seems not unreal in the case of less efficient
methods of cleansing. It would be eliminated should the trade
discover some satisfactory non-returnable container.
Milk Analysis.
99 samples of milk were submitted during the year for an
analysis which included not only bacteria but extraneous matter,
It was thought that it would be advantageous to let the retailers
know the result of the test to make them aware of the quality
of their samples. Summaries of the analyst's report were
accordingly given to the dairymen, with the result that in several
instances the retailers, on becoming aware of the unsatisfactory
quality of the milk, have changed to other producers. In some