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37
Biological Samples.
Nine samples of milk were procured and submitted for animal inoculation
tests. All the samples were reported to be free from tubercle
bacilli.
The eradication of tuberculous infection in cattle made good progress
in Surrey during recent years and as mentioned above the County is
now an Attested Area. An indication of the progress made in this direction
is provided by the fact that the Public Health Laboratory at Guildford,
during the last four years failed to isolate tubercle bacilli from any of the
1,500 routine samples examined. This satisfactory situation makes it now
possible for the biological testing of milk for tuberculosis to be limited
to raw T.T. milk.
Milk and Dairies Regulations, 1949—Regulations 19 and 20.
No action was called for under Part VII of the Milk and Dairies
Regulations, 1949, which empowers the Medical Officer of Health to
examine persons handling milk or milk receptacles who are suspected of
being infectious or to suspend from work workers found to be infectious or
to deal appropriately with any milk supply, where there is evidence of its
being the cause of disease or reasonable grounds for believing that it is.
Qualitative Analysis.
The number of samples of milk submitted to the Public Analyst for
qualitative analysis was 187. Of these 36 were "Channel Islands" milk in
which the cream content must be not less than 4% instead of the usual
legal limit of 3% for ordinary milk. All were found to be genuine samples.
The average fat and non-fatty solids of the "Channel Islands" samples
was 4.48% and 8.88% respectively; that of the remaining 151 samples
3.65% and 8.62%.
Ice Cream
Sampling of ice cream was continued and the results classified in
accordance with the Grading Scheme described in last year's report. All
the 93 samples were found to conform to the highest standard. Although
the bacterial cleanliness of this commodity as judged by this method of
examination has approached the highest standard in recent years, this is the
first occasion that 100% of the samples were of Grade I.
The record of
these samples since 1947 when the system was first instituted was as
follows:—