MANUFACTURE OF BABY MILK

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27273, 13 February 1954, Page 8

MANUFACTURE OF BABY MILK

INTRODUCTION IN AUCKLAND

SUPPLIES AVAILABLE ABOUT EASTER

A plea by Dr. Helen Deem, medical adviser to the Plunket Society, for the production by the milk industry of a special baby milk suitable for use by mothers whose babies fail to thrive on high-fat milk, is referred to in 4 ‘Town Milk,” the official organ of the New Zealand Milk Board. The initial step in meeting this request was taken in November, when a meeting was held in Auckland (where it is proposed that baby milk should be introduced) of representatives of the Plunket Society, the Pediatric Society, the Auckland Milk Treatment Corporation, the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd., the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Board, the Auckland Committee of Supply, the Health Department, and the Dairy Division and the Marketing Division of the Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the problems involved in making a supply of fat-adjusted (3.3 per cent) baby milk available. The need for such milk had already been emphasised by the Plunket Society and the Pediatric Society, says “Town Milk.” From the discussion it was obvious that technical difficulties could readily be overcome, and that it was rather a matter of setting a date for the introduction of the product than of examining how suitab’e milk could be produced. It was decided that once tiic prelim-

inary technical details had been attended to and the necessary official approval to the proposal granted, the product should be placed on the market and the Plunket Society and the Pediatric Society advised. It was expected that baby milk would be available by about Easter. The decision to introduce baby milk in Auckland first was prompted by two factors peculiar to the milk supply in the Auckland area. Auckland milk is rich in butterfat, and the milk is collected twice a day. The evening milk, which is particularly high in fat content, is usually processed and bottled separately from the relatively low-fat morning milk and, therefore, the housewife cannot count on a steady fat-content in the milk she receives. If such milk is used for baby feeding. the variation in fat content is frequently reflected in digestive upsets. The provision of uniform fat content through fat-adjusted baby milk should prove welcome to Auckland mothers, the magazine says.