MILK TREATING HOUSES

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26523, 11 September 1951, Page 8

MILK TREATING HOUSES

SCOPE OF LICENCES EXTENDED

APPROVAL BY BOARD YESTERDAY

Twenty applications from milk vendors for licences to treat milk in the Christchurch Metropolitan Milk Board's district were approved at a meeting of the board yesterday, subject to a favourable report from a sub-commit-tee set up to investigate conditions in those premises for which licences are sought. The sub-commit-tee set up yesterday consists of the District Medical Officer of Health (Dr. J. H. Blakelock). the dairy instructor to the Department of Agriculture in Christchurch (Mr A. E. Pain) and the board’s supervising officer (Mr J. W. Huggins). Previously licences referred only to pasteurisation, but under the Milk Act, 1944, treatment includes examination. cleansing, pasteurisation, modification, testing, grading, cooling, refrieeration, bottling or packing of milk, or otherwise preparing milk for sale. In future it will be unlawful to use unlicensed premises for any form of milk treatment. At last month’s meeting of the board it was decided to ask the dairy division of the Department of Agriculture to inspect those premises for which treating house licences were sought The Director, Dairy Division, Department of Agriculture, has since replied that officers of the dairy division did not normally undertake the inspection of premises where milk was treated as raw milk only. Such premises were supervised and inspected by officers of the Department of Health. He recommended that a small committee be set up to handle the matter. Provisions of Licence Licences to treat milk other than by pasteurisation will only be issued subject to compliance with regulations under the Health Act. the Dairy Industry Act and the Food and Drugs Act with the following minimum standards:— Buildings.—Buildings and surroundings must be kept clean at all times. Floors must be of concrete or equivalent impervious material. Walls must be of properly plastered concrete, bricks or concrete blocks or of other suitable impervious material to a height of not less than six feet from floor level Ceilings and roof must be non-porous, dustproof and of sanitary construction. Buildings must be provided with adequate ventilation and must be adequately lighted. Can Washing.—Cans should be properly cleaned as soon as possible after each occasion on which they have been used. A can may be considered to have been properly cleaned when it contains not more than 50,000 colonies a can as ascertained when a rinsing of the can and lid is subjected to a standard plate count test Cleansing.—Milk shall be filtered or otherwise treated so that it shall contain no extraneous matter when tested on any standard sediment tester. Coolers.—Milk coolers must at all tunes be capable of reducing the temperature of the milk to 40 degrees Fahrenheit and they must be covered with dust proof covers or else installed and operated in a dust proof room. Bottle Washing.—Bottles must be properly cleaned as soon as possible after each occasion on which they have been used. A bottle may be considered to have been properly cleaned when it is visually clean and when it contains not more than one colony a millilitre of bottle capacity as ascertained when a rinsing of the bottle is subjected to a standard plate count test Bottle Filling and Capping.—This must be done by mechanical means in such a manner that the operation of capping shall immediately follow the operation of filling on each individual bottle. Washed bottles and unused caps shall at all times be stored under sanitary conditions. Cool Store. —The cool store must be of sanitary construction and kept at all times in a clean condition and be used only for the storage of milk and cream. Milk must be held at a temFatoeS! ® rea^er an degrees Delivery.—Milk shall not be moved from the cool room and placed on any delivery vehicle before one hour before a delivery round is commenced. Plant Sanitation.—Crates shall at all times be kept in a clean condition. Milk pumps must be of sanitary design and shall not have any metal surface i other than tin or stainless steel, in ; contact with the milk. All equipment must be kept clean and must be i sterilised after treatment is>concluded. Staff Facilities.—These should be of i the standards from time to time demanded by the Department of Health. The licence also included a number of comprehensive tests which must be carried out before and after treatment