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from the customers. This cannot be so, because cold water will not cleanse greasy
utensils. Moreover, the regulations state that all utensils must be washed in hot
water, and before a person is registered, provision must be made for the boiling
of water for the purpose of cleansing.
During the last five years in this Borough, proceedings have been instituted
on 33 occasions unsuccessfully as a result of the production of a warranty, but this
does not give an adequate idea of the extent of adulteration carried on under the cloak
of the warranty. A dairyman proves his warranty, and the case is dismissed. If
the same dairyman is found on a subsequent occasion to sell adulterated milk,
the fact that he had previously won on a warranty is reported to the Public Health
Committee, and on some occasions, the Committee has decided not to take
proceedings.
Many of the dairymen in this district keep cows and buy milk from wholesale
firms as well. If the sample purchased is found to be adulterated, a warranty is
produced, although the milk may have been given by their cows, and afterwards
adulterated. A cowkeeper, if he buys one churn a day, is thus protected, even if
he keeps a hundred or more cows. For instance, a cowkeeper in this Borough, who
keeps between 70 and 80 cows, was summoned on two occasions. He pleaded a
warranty and both cases were dismissed, the last occasion being in July, 1912.
In December, 1912, another sample of milk was taken for analysis, and although
it contained 5 per cent. of added water, the Public Health Committee decided to
take no action under the circumstances.
Another instance was that of a dairyman, who is licensed to keep nineteen
cows. On three different occasions he was prosecuted for selling adulterated milk,
but in each instance the summons was dismissed on production of a warranty.
In 1913, six summonses for selling adulterated milk were dismissed on
proving the warranty, and four were withdrawn for a similar reason. In two of
the dismissed cases, one contained 10 per cent. of added water, and the other was
13 per cent. deficient in fat.
The wholesale firms may believe that they are selling the milk as they receive
it, but they do not cause sufficient supervision to be observed over their carmen.
My attention was called recently to a flagrant offence of this kind. I was told
that three carmen, working for two wholesale firms, drove up to the side entrance
of a milk-shop premises in our district, twice a day, and that water was brought
from these premises to adulterate the milk. I kept observation on several occasions,
and saw the adulteration taking place. On one occasion a full churn of water was
lifted on to the van, and the contents divided between nine churns of milk, which
were not quite full. The milk then reached to the top of these nine churns. It
was then stirred, and milk from each churn was added to a tenth churn, which
was empty.