City Raw Milk Sales To End This Month

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28921, 15 June 1959, Page 13

City Raw Milk Sales To End This Month

Having decided to discontinue the retail side of their dairy busiless. Munnings Brothers, of Heathcote, the only retailers of raw milk in Christchurch, on Friday offered to sell to the Metropolitan Milk Board their round of about 40 gallons a day. The offer was accepted, as from July 1. . When a protest was received from Mr H. Bennett, of Bridle Path road, against Munning Brothers being “forced from business” and his being deprived of the right of choice of supply, Mrs A. Schumacher said she heartily endorsed the protest. The producers had spent many years bringing their herd up to Government requirements and were being victimised. “This is very much what I was afraid of.” said Mrs Schumacher later in the meeting when the offer to sell was received. “These men have been victimised by ourselves. If we had allowed them to continue they would have delivered milk of a certain standard.” The chairman (Mr B. G. Brown): It is a matter for the

Health Department. This board sometimes gets the blame for things. The health authorities have decreed these things. Munnings Brothers, said Mr Brown, had been given two years in which to install a bottling plantThe board was charitable and generous in giving a two months’ extension to obtain cartons, which were found to be too dear. The problem had been created by the Health Department, and there was nothing the board could do about it. “Don’t blame the board,” said Mr Erown. If brucellosis was cleaned from the dairy herds, he wondered what the Health Department would then find wrong with milk, said Mr W. J. Cowles. Unless bulk milk was pasteurised, the people could not get good milk all the time-

The important point was that Christchurch’s only raw milk retailer was being lost, said Mrs Schumacher. The decree was that milk had* to be bottled, replied the chairman.

“Don’t let us go back to the can,” remarked Mr L. Christie.