QUALITY OF MILK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21868, 2 August 1934, Page 13

QUALITY OF MILK

Sir, —The Metropolitan Milk Council has at last brought forward recommendations with a view to improving the standard of the milk supplied to the city. In the interests of consumers I trust that these recommendations will be given very careful consideration before they are finally adopted. The hasty decisions of the Milk Council have already made it far from popular, and I trust that no false step will now be made by rushing new regulations int<j effect. Unquestionably the quality of the future milk supply of Auckland will be decided upon by the final adoption of these or similar recommendations. Up to the present, the public has had every reason for protesting against the action of the board in increasing the price without justifying' such action by making it compulsory for the milk interests to supply better milk. It has already been shown that several or the recommendations now before the council are not practicable, and it appears that unless an Expert is appointed at once to consider and approve same before being finally adopted, the whole matter will become farcical. We have Government experts in both the Health and Agricultural Departments, who should approve of any suggested regulations, and who are competent to see that the public gets a fair deal. The recommendations state that payment for milk shall be according to its standard of purity only. What about its test for richness? In these recommendations there is no provision whatever for raising the standard, i.e., the butter-fat content of the milk. Surely farmers should be encouraged for producing not only clean but rich, wholesome milk. Moreover, are not the consumers entitled to a richer and hicber testing milk if they are to continue paying a higher price? I venture to predict that unless the recommendations include a higher test for Auckland milk, the average butter-fat content of the milk will rapidly decrease as soon as a central pooling scheme for supplies comes into operation. Producer.