London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hillingdon 1972
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hillingdon]
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milk which may arise through failure to reject the milk of an animal which has been given an antibiotic
preparation, usually for the treatment of mastitis. The positive result obtained resulted from
such a failure and a warning was issued to the farmer responsible. The T.T.C. tests were carried out
by the Public Health Laboratory Service.
The following table gives details of the number of samples of raw milk taken and the result obtained.
| Brucella ring test | Guinea pig inoculation | TTC Test | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative | Positive | Total | Negative | Positive | Total | Negative | Positive | Total |
| 111 | 8 | 119 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 1 | 37 |
Processing Plants
There are two dairies within the Borough where milk is pasteurized and bottled. Regular
inspections are made to ensure the efficiency of the processing operations and washed bottles and
churn rinses are periodically taken for laboratory examination as a check on the efficiency of the
cleaning methods.
The following table shows the results of the washed bottles and churn rinses submitted for laboratory examination:
| Bottles | Churns | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory |
| 40 | 10 | 14 | 1 |
Premises registered and licensed
Premises registered and licensed in accordance with the Milk and Dairies (General) Regulations,
1959 and the Milk (Special Designation) Regulations are as follows:
Registered Milk Distributors 140
Registered Dairies 2
Licences to use special designations:
(a) pasteurised 123
(b) sterilised 74
(c) ultra heat treatment 101
(d) untreated 18
(e) Dealers licence (pasteurised) 2
In addition to the traditional milk round, milk is increasingly being distributed through grocer
shops and supermarkets where the storage conditions and efficiency of stock rotation have to be
carefully watched.
The results of all milk samples taken for the statutory tests are set out in the following table:
| Pasteurised—Phosphatase test | Untreated-—Methylene Blue test | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory |
| 13 | — | 8 | — |