SAFETY IN MILK

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21972, 22 December 1936, Page 18

SAFETY IN MILK

♦ — CLEANLINESS, NOT A GUARANTEE VALUE OF PASTEURISATION DISCUSSED "N.g matter how clean milk supply may be, it is not necessarily safe for human consumption unless it is subjected to some form of heat treatment such as pasteurisation," said Sir Hugh Acland. at the meeting of the Christchurch City Council last evening, when presenting an interim report of the committee which has been set up to investigate all aspects of a municipal milk supply. Sir Hugh Acland, who is chairman of the committee, said that he did not propose at the present time to deal with the economic position of the producers and vendors, evidence of which was being placed before the committee, but it was very desirable that the public should be given some information on tha health aspect of the milk supply. Sir Hugh dealt at some length with the methods of milk supply in the city. The Agricultural Department, he said, was responsible for the health of the dairy herds, the Health Department for the eood quality of the milk that was supplied, and th_e City Counc.il for the supervision of vendors, dairies, and shops which sold milk in the city. Scrupulous Producers Everybody recognised that milk was a most important food for all, especially for the growing child, but the conditions of production and the activities of the micro-organisms made milk most difficult to harvest, handle, and deliver in a clean, fresh, condition entirely satisfactory from the health point of view. "We have had excellent supervision of the milk supply in the past and the producers have taken the greatest care." he continued. No raw milk, however, -could be considered entirely safe unless it was submitted to some heat treatment—by boiling or pasteurisation. The report of the vendors placed before the committee, referred to their financial difficulties and the consequent difficulty of keeping their equipment thoroughly efficient. "We are fortunate in having cows that are comparatively free from tuberculosis," Sir Hugh continued. "This disease in cows ie the great bugbear of milk supply in Great Britain and the United States." It was estimated he said, that the dangers in the Northern Hemisphere were five times as great as I£ose from the same source in New Zealand, and Canterbury was particularly well off in this respect. The public needed to be reassured on one point. The disease known as consumption did not arise from bovine tuberculosis; -but milk from infected cows did affect children in the glands and in other ways. The other diseases which might be derived from cows were undulant fever and septic conditions of the throat. Each infection might be present in the cow without any outward evidence. Whose Responsibility? To ensure safety in the milk supply there must be the added safeguard of heat treatment. The milk might be handled with the utmost cleanliness, but because it was delivered in sealed bottles did not necessarily mean that the milk was safe. Indeed those sealed bottles might make for a false sense of security.

Where was the responsibility for safety to lie? This depended very largely on the nature of the community. Pasteurisation had been used fairly generally in centres of considerable population, and the only efficient method was to do this on a large scale and under the strictest and most careful supervision. It was not the ideal way of treating milk, but it was the best way to ensure safety. There could be no half measures if pasteurisation was to be undertaken. If Christchurch was to have a milk supply for the whole of its area, and it was to become a public service similar to the supply of water, electricity, and drainage it would be yet another strong argument for the amalgamation of the local bodies in the area. The adoption of methods to ensure a really safe milk supply must be contingent to some extent on the amalgamation of the local bodies concerned. , The investigation committee was empowered to make public from time to time such information in its possession as was considered desirable.