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43. B. Dairy Regulations.—The question of the proper
control of dairies and the milk traffic is a most important one,
and will soon have to be taken in hand by the legislature.
They are now under the dual control of the County Council
and Local Sanitary Authority. It would be better to make
one only of these bodies responsible, and probably the local
authority would be most satisfactory—at any rate, for executive
functions. The County Council might with advantage have
extended powers of making regulations, and certainly further
regulations are needed. It seems to me most undesirable that
tanks of water such as existed in Princes Eoad should be
allowed, but the dairy regulations do not forbid them. There
is no law or regulation, I believe, to prevent the sale of milk
from tuberculous cows, although I think this might be done by
extending the term dangerous infectious disease to tubercle
under Section 58 of Public Health (London) Act, after which
Section 71 would apply. Milk should not be kept in such a
cellar as it was at the Princes Road dairy, but probably this
was unknown to the inspector.
44. Conclusion.—On the whole, I think it must be said that,
under the existing law, nothing was left undone by the
authorities which, if done, would have prevented this epidemic.
I consider the lessons of the epidemic are; —
1. That under our present knowledge milk cannot be considered
a safe food unless boiled or otherwise sterilized.
2. That legal powers are required for more effectively closing
a dairy which is shown to be the source of infectious disease.
3. That more stringent regulations for, and more effective
inspection of dairies, are required.