Shop Milk-Shakes Cause Concern

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30055, 13 February 1963, Page 15

Shop Milk-Shakes Cause Concern

Some milk-bar proprietors may be prosecuted if they do not improve their handling of milk for milk-shakes, according to the senior inspector of health (Mr. J. B. Snoad).

Tests taken by the Christchurch health inspectors showed that some milk used in milk-shakes was stale and heavily contaminated with bacteria, he said. The worst offenders were generally the small suburban shops Which sold an occasional milk-shake, said Mr Snoad. Central milk-bars mostly gave little cause for concern.

Part of the trouble was a lack of cleanliness in equipment and handling. Part was the result of milk kept in a container being “topped up” from day to day without the previous day’s supply being emptied and the container cleaned. Another bad habit was

freezing the milk. The part of the milk which froze was the water content, so that the milk drawn out by the dipper was much more concentrated than normal. When some of this had been removed, the custom in many milk-bars was to thaw the iee in the remainder. This meant that the customers got alternately concentrated and diluted milk; it also meant that the organisms in the milk got the chance to multiply in favourable conditions during the time the milk was out of the freezing chamber. Some milk-bar proprietors seemed to be under the impression that milk was not suitable for milk-shakes unless it was frozen, but this was untrue, said Mr Snoad, The most suitable temperature was about 33deg Fahrenheit, just above freezing. Another unfounded belief held by many was that refrigeration killed bacteria, he added. Many bacteria could withstand temperatures much below those of a normal refrigerator, and those commonly found in milk could live, though not multiply, at refrigerator temperatures. . Mr Snoad recommended that, in businesses selling only relatively few milk-shakes, the milk should be bought in half-pint bottles and put into the milk-shakes from the bottles. The milk should not be kept longer than the day after delivery, and a strict rotation should be observed to make certain the oldest bottles were used first. The bottles should be kept in the refrigerator,