PURER MILK

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10063, 30 August 1918, Page 6

PURER MILK

ADVANTAGES OF NEW SCHEME PAPER CONTAINERS OR BOTTLES? COUNCILLOR NORWOOD REPLIES TO CRITICISM. In conversation with a ''Times” reporter yesterday. Councillor C- B. Norwood, chairman of the special milk committee, replied to tho criticism of the now milk delivery scheme which appeared editorially in yesterday’s ‘‘Times." Referring to stale milk. Air Norwood said : "A great deal has been said and written with the object of pointing out that tho council’s scheme does not Oder tho public a purer milk supply. I cannot think anyone holding that view has thoroughly looked into tho scheme, for, according to carefully .prepared estimates, at least twelve hours will be saved between the cow and tile consumer. It must bo borne in mind that I rail-borne milk delivered in the city at the present time is unity to thirty-six hours old at the time of'delivery, and the saving of time which is anticipated by the council’s system should bo a very great advantage from the householders’ point of view; and when to this is added the special treatment of. clarihcation, which is now recognised to be necessary by all tho beat authorities, v and immediate cooling to something under 40 degrees, it may be reasonably expected that good milk will result. ...

“The ‘Times’ asks why the economy resulting from the blocking system should go to Benefit the vendor and not the consumer. It is hardly necessary for me to' say that there are a great many vendors , whose lives have ibcen_ wrapped up in the vending business for many years, and althougn there are some that cue city could do well without, in my committee’s opinion it would not be fair to late their businesses away from them without some form of compensation. The law does not provide that the council- may pay direct compensation to tho vendors, and there are many reasons, in the interest® ot the public, why the- system devised for compensating the vendors should be of public advantage. I have seen in the columns of the ‘Tunes an advocacy of compensation by thid Government where it is contemplated to. take away the-legitimate business of the individual, and I do not think it can be said seriously that tho milk vendor is not entitled to the same consideration as the man in a- much larger and brighter . business. My committees scheme provides the condition wherebj there will bo no increased cost to the public on the one hand, and the public will obtain tor, themselves a purer milk supply on the other. "My committee, ’ continued Mr Norwood, ‘‘did not omit from its studios the bottle system. Mr Greville was good enough to give evidence before the committee on tho uoint, and the committee had the advantage of much advice from •itoad. While appreciating the advantages of this system from many points ot view wo felt we. could not overlook the advice of a committee of the Beard ot Health .to the State of Pennsylvania, who, after full. and complete mvestigation,- referred to tho distributing bottles , disease carriers. It must be reinemgered that, bottles’.-are distributed to / house —some clean and some only moderately clean —and that they arc used as receptacles for all kinds ot tilings. Worse still, direct evidence has been found that they have been used sbr • very objectionable purposes. These bottles are returned to bo cleaned and refilled, and if an epidemic should break out there is a grave risk by the bottles oeing returned to on© centre and redistributed over the whole city, i-he risk is there, however carefully the cleaning and sterilising raaj r b© carried out. In at least one large city the paper ccntainer has ousted the hottlo completely with excellent results. These containers are manufactured by machines, are, comparatively’ speaking, inexpensive, and aro handled right through the process until the time for filling by steel fingers. They are treated with paraffin wax to render them suitable for the purpose. Experiments have shown that milk can bo kept for a much longer period treated in this way than is pos-. siblo in any other system. Approximately GO.ODO containers can be made per ton of pulp, so that they should bo less expensive than the bottles when the breakages in handling are taken into account. Tho machine is caxiablo of turning out 50C0 containers per hour. From a hygcnic point of view the paper container holds a great advantage, for it is filled immediately after its manufacture and preparation, and must be perfectly free from dust and dirt. After it has served its purpose’ it can be thrown in the firo, and is not returned for refilling. It must be remembered. that milk is one of tho most sensitive of foods, and will take up and, carry disease moro readily probably than any other commodity that enters the household/*

The public would notice, said Councillor Norwood, that the council’s scheme provided a system for currying on over two years, this being the time it vas estimated would be required to get complete details and .investigate thoroughly die merits of the,paper container system. Should the system bo agreed upon it would involve a complete change in tho whole system of distribution. It must bo patent to anyone-who looked into the matter widely and from a. commercial point, of view that by the scheme the council was advocating—(l) The vendor would get. reasonable, and proper treatment; (2) the public would get purer milk; (3) tho council would not be lesponsiblo at tho end of two years to a large staff of 'workmen who might not db. required in the up-to-date system that would then ho inaugurated.