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MEDICAL OFFICER'S ANNUAL REPORT SHEET 18 OF DRAFT.
was not in working order at the end of 1925. Two retailers now
have modern pasteurising plant with cold stores. The small retailers
have improved their can and bottle washing arrangements but there is
still room for improvement.
Practically the whole of the milk supply for this district Is rail
borne and. it will be seen that your sanitary officers have no control
over the premises in which such milk is produced. The fact that the
large distributors find it necessary to instal, work and maintain
expensive plant to clean the milk before distribution shows that the
milk is not produced under good conditions. It has been proved that
clean wholesome milk can be produced and disposed of under commercially
economic conditions every day in the year and if this was universal
there would be no need for the elaborate machinery now used to clean
the milk. There is no doubt that the consumer is getting a much
cleaner milk due in a large measure to the milk distributing
companies being forced to clean and pasteurise the milk to prevent it
going sour but this milk is not a raw milk with the valuable vitamins
intact and until the consumer demands a clean untreated milk the
retail price will remain high and the consumption of this excellent
article of food restricted. There has been a successful effort, to
place a clean untreated milk on the marked in the Grade A Tuberculin
Tested Milk and I am often asked what are the advantages of this Milk.
They are
(1) The milk is from healthy cows.
(2) The food value of the milk is unimpaired.
(3) It will keep good for at least 2 days even in hot weather.
(4) It is delivered from producer to consumer in clean
sterilized sealed containers.
(5) There need be only one delivery of milk per day
(6) The consumer knows the exact age of the milk.
(7) It cannot be adulterated or interfered with, without
the consumers knowledge.
(8) It has to conform to a high hygienic standard and is
the best possible "Nursery Milk"
There are two disadvantages
(1) The price is higher than ordinary milk
(2) It is not bottled by the producer unless the producer
happens to be the retailer.
There is a growing tendency for milk to be delivered in bottles
but there is no advantage in this unless it is certain that the milk
Is clean before bottling and that the bottles have been properly cleaned
sterilized, and securely sealed before delivery. The consumer is often
at fault by allowing the milk to dry on the bottles before returning
them to the retailer and it is most difficult to properly clean such
a bottle, When it is borne in mind that many thousands of dirty bottles
have to be cleaned one realizes that it is the cleansing operations
that cost so much money and so adds to the price of milk. The consumer
can help in maintaining a clean milk supply by rinsing the bottles in
cold water before returning them to the retailer.
Complaints are received that the milk delivered in the morning Is
often bad before evening. The principal cause of this is that the
milk is old before it is delivered. Pasteurising stops souring, but
it does not make a dirty milk clean and such dirty milk soon becomes
putrid. The remedy lies greatly with the consumer. Dirty milk should
not be purchased, and until the public demand milk of a high hygienic
standard the producer and retailer are not encouraged to supply it.
A clean wholesome milk, hygienically produced and distributed is
one of the best means we have of reducing the amount of illness and
suffering caused by bovine tuberculosis, and one cannot emphasise too
much the value of a clean and wholesome milk supply.
Milk (Designations) Order 1922.
This is an Order made by the Minister of Health under powers
purporting to be given to him under Section 3 of the Milk & Dairies
(Amendment) Act 1922. There are four grades of Milk that may be
sold under the Order viz. "Certified" Grade A Tuberculin Tested"