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49
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD.
(a) Milk Supply.

This milk is distributed by 44 local retailers, 9 distributing
centres and one wholesale. There are 9 cowkeepers in the district.
15 retailers of ordinary milk were registered during the year,
in addition to which there were 20 applications for the registration
of premises for the sale of carton or of sterilized milk. One retailer
discontinued business and one business changed hands. Three
applications for registration of premises were abandoned.
It appears to be a growing practice for a dairyman, instead
of employing men as his agents to distribute the milk, to sell each
day a certain quantity to a number of roundsmen who then proceed
to distribute independently of the original owner of the milk.
In such cases, registration of these distributors is called for as
retail purveyors of milk. The practice is an unsatisfactory one
from the point of view of retaining control over the milk, as the
owner of the dairy accepts no responsibility for any misdeeds on
the part of the distributors, and these are apt to change their rounds
with an embarrassing frequency.
Legal proceedings were taken against eight retailers working
from the same unregistered premises, when fines and costs totalling
£12 18s. Od. were imposed. Another distributor using unregistered
premises discontinued after being cautioned. Two roundsmen
detected bottling in the streets were cautioned.
Milk Sampling.
During the year, 124 samples of milk were analysed ; the same
system of sampling was continued. The following table shows
the results of these analyses, divided into those produced on a
small scale and those distributed by large companies:—