CLEAN MILK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 19, 23 January 1926, Page 10

CLEAN MILK.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —In ■ the United Kingdom they have clean milk competitions, which have shown that only ordinary methods and care are necessary for the production of pure milk. The polrcy was to produce the milk as clearilf as possible, and convey it ; t6' the consumer in the same state. The people who had really done well in clean milk competitions had often very poor buildings, so that an elaborate plant is not' essential. The ■ milkers were compelled to wash their hands between each cow, the udder was wiped "with a wet-cloth and a .special ■sort of milk pail used, with a sidew'ay.s opening go that particles "could not fall' into the milk. The whole test of clean i milk is the number of living bacteria in ■ a cubic, centimetre of milk. In grade j A milk it is permitted to have 200,000 bacteria. It is extremely easy for. any. producer with workmen \vho. understand what cleanliness is to produce grade A milk. Farmers are not philanthropists, and one could not expect a farmer to spend more in producing an article unless he saw a' commercial advantage in Vo'doing: and the only way to afford him some advantage would be to give him some sort of certificate that would enable him to guarantee that the rSurcha=e.r was getting what he was paying for. "Why can't we Have clean milk competitions? Pasteurisation is an extra safeguard, but it must not be adopted as .an alternative to cleanliness. The Government should be urged to carry through some milk legislation. Make a milk classification, and, broadly speaking, divide all milk into three classes —children's milk, safe adult milk, and cooking milk. When started, such a scheme would find most of the milk classified as cooking milk, but public opinion would influence the production and handling of milk, and there would soon be a general improvement in the quality. The public would soon say that it did not want dirty milk.—l am, I etc., A. WILLIAMSON.