LONDON’S MILK

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 October 1928, Page 8

LONDON’S MILK

“A DAILY MIRACLE.” Delegates to the number of 1600, from forty-seven different countries and States, met recently at the Central Hall,.' Westminster, London, for the World’s Dairy Congress, an international gathering which is brought together every two years. The present was the eighth conference and the first held in England. Viscount Astor presided at the opening session, reports the “Daily Telegraph.” Mr Walter Guinness, M.P., Minister of Agriculture, welcoming the delegates on behalf -of the Government, said that in the last 100 years there had been a most astounding development in dairying, largely because of the advance in the system of transport. “Even if we do not actually milk the means of transport, like the Tartars and Arabs do their mares and camels,” he said, “in another and far truer sense the great towns depend for their milk on mechanical transport. “One hundred years ago this great city obtained its milk largely from London cowsheds or from herds which were kept near by. Now we bring vast quantities of milk 150 miles by rail and lorry every day. The manner in which fresh pure milk is brought within the reach of every urban householder without any trouble to those who order it is a daily miracle of organisation. “The dairy industry in England has become the greatest single branch of our agriculture, and the value of our dairy products in England and Wales is about £8,000,000 a year. It amounts to one-quarter of our total agricultural output, and the dairy herd is showing a continual increase. Last year reached what for us was the record number of 2,800,000. We are hoping to see an even greater development from the agricultural point of view. “We can already claim,” Mr Guinness proceeded, “that in the matter of cleanliness and quality the milk supply of Great Britain, though necessarily still imperfect, is second to none in the world. I was glad to see the improvement which was recently reported by the Medical Officer of Health for London. He pointed out that in 1921, of the milk samples taken, 25 per cent, gave tuberculous bacilli. In 1925 the figure had dropped to 2.4 per cent., and last year not one single sample was found containing the bacilli.” M. Jules Maenhaut, president of the Belgian Association, and Dr. F. E. Posthuma, late Minister of Agriculture and president of the Netherlands Federation of Co-operative Dairy Unions, brought fraternal greeting from their respective countries. Afterwards the conference formed

itself into two sections, for the discussion of “Milk Production” and “Milk Distribution and Manufacture.” At one of these Dr. H. C. Corry Mann, well-known for the nutritional experiments he has conducted on growing children, expressed his belief that the groat decline in infantile mortality during the last few years was mainly due to the more general use of pasteurised milk. Pointing out that it was among the poorest classes that the fall in the mortality rate was most marked, he argued that this could only have been brought about by pasteurisation, as those classes could not afford

• to buy “certified” or “tuberculin test- ■ ed” milk. , He considered that the compulsory i pasteurisation of all fluid milk offer- • ed for sale as food should be included ' in the Ministry of Health’s national ■ scheme of milk control, and said that the .argument that universal pasteuri isation might lead to the increased . saie of dirty milk, which would there--1 by be rendered safe, was a foolish one. “In every town of over 10,000 ■ inhabitants,” added Dr. Mann, “all fluid milk offered for sale as food ; should be pasteurised, and such pasteurisation, should be enforced by legislation.”

Professor Orla-Jensen, Royal Technical College, Copenhagen, gave particulars of new investigations concerning the low temperature pasteurisation of milk, which, lie said, had had the result that in many countries the old high temperature had been abandoned in dealing with milk intended for direct consumption. In America it had been found that where the low temperature pasteurisation had been adopted the otherwise frequent epidemics due to milk had become a thing of the past. This low temperature pasteurisation of milk, said the professor, must be regarded as one of the greatest advances in modern hygiene, but, at the same time, it was by no means impossible that still further progress might be made in the pasteurisation of milk. If it might be highly dangerous to drink even the most highly controlled and best treated milk in a raw state, it was really a matter for wonder that everyone did not prefer pasteurised milk.