View report page

44
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD
(a) MILK SUPPLY.
During 1933 ten names were removed from the
Register of Dairymen for various reasons, chiefly business
changes. In one case the removal was by order of the
Corporation.
Twenty-seven fresh entries were added to the register,
leaving a total at the end of the year of 63, compared with
46 at the end of 1932. The increase is due mostly to the
sale of sterilised milk in bottles, which accounts for no less
than 21 out of the total of 63 registrations. The premises
on which this milk is sold are not dairies, the registration
being of the person carrying on the business. The milk
is sold in the unopened bottles as received on the premises.
There is only one cowkeeper in the Borough.
Graded Milks.
There is no licensed graded milk producer in the
Borough, but 19 dealers' licenses for the sale of graded
milk were issued during the year, compared with 26 for
the year 1932. There is not a great demand for the higher
grades of milk, and this fact discourages milk producers
from applying for the necessary licenses.
The license fee payable in respect of the production of
certified milk is £5. In addition, the producer of this high
grade milk has to meet the cost of periodical veterinary
examination and tuberculin testing of his herd, and suffer
losses by the sale of cows which re-act to the test. On the
other hand the ordinary cowkeeper pays no annual fee and
is not required to have his herd tested etc. The price
obtainable for the higher grade milk does not compensate
the producer for the extra cost of production.
The retailing of milk from churns and hand cans is
discouraged in the Borough, but is not forbidden by law.
(b) MEAT AND OTHER FOODS.
The number of animals slaughtered in the Borough
during 1933 was 6,928, showing a large decrease compared
with the previous year. This reduction was foreshadowed
in my last report. It is due in chief to the closing of the
slaughterhouse in Acre Road. The butcher who used these
premises now slaughters in a district in Middlesex.