CITY MILK SUPPLY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22258, 10 May 1934, Page 6

CITY MILK SUPPLY

METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT LICENSING OF VENDORS ISSUE OF CERTIFICATES PROPOSED At the fortnightly meeting of the City Council last night the General Committee, which was instructed some time ago to consider the question of the city s milk supply, submitted a comprehensive report drawn up as the result of investigations made by the committee in collaboration with Dr C. E. Hercus, officer in charge of the Bacteriological Department of the Otago University, Mr C. V. Dayus, district superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, Dr T. R. Ritchie, district medical officer of health, and representatives of the Dunedin Milk Producers’ and Retailers’ Association. TEXT OF REPORT The report read as follows; “For a considerable time the committee has been considering the whole subject of the milk supply to the city. The. salient features that emerged from the investigations may be stated as follows: —(a) ; The bacteriological reports on ‘surprise samples of niilk dealt with, while showing in a number of cases satisfactory results, leave room for improvement in some of the samples submitted to test, (b) The consumption of milk per capita, as near as such consumption can be calculated from the data available, is below the minimum that could be accepted as sufficient, having regard to the value of pure, wholesome milk as a form of desirable food, (c) The low price of butter-fat now prevailing has induced many producers, who have in the past depended for their income on the sale of their product to the factories for process purposes, to turn their attention to the local market by disposing of their milk for consumption as liquid milk. The effect o, this competition has so depressed the price that (so it is alleged) milk is now being sold at a price below cost of production. , “ The problem, therefore, with which the committee was confronted resolved itself into an attempt to ensure an improvement in the purity of the supply, to increase the use of pure and wholesome milk as a desirable, if not necessary, article of food, f nd, at the same time, to meet the needs of the producer by ensuring to him a price commensurate with the cost of That problem . will at once. be recognised as being bv no means free from difficulties, and how best to deal with it, without seriously adding to the cost of production has engaged the attention of the committee. The Auckland expedient of the creation of a milk board was considered, but such a -course was not favoured. On the subject of improvement in the purity of the supply,, the committee Was forced to the conclusion, from a careful examination of the data before it, that a great advance :was possible, along these lines,- merely by the exercise of greater personal care On the part of the persons actually dealing with the milk in the several stages of its transit from the cow to the consumer. This should be capable of achievement without the least additional cost. Within the limits of the existing statutory power to deal with the whole subject, we have therefore to. recommend that a by-law be made providing for the following matters: —

(a) The licensing of all persona engaged in the supply of milk for consumption within the, city. (b) The getting up of a milk committee of the City Council to. administer such by-law; such committee to include ."co-opted members, representing the producers, and, if' found possible, representatives of the State Departments who at present act under statutory power in exercising supervision in one or other branches of the industry.. (c) Such by-law to contain provision for^‘the issue of a certificate as an “accredited - supplier ” to all licensees who, at the expiry of a stated period—say six months—had conformed to a fixed standard of purity, determined by a!bacteriological test of ‘surprise’ tak- ' ings of samples over the period $o fixed. (d) The machinery clauses to give effect to : these provisions By these means it is hoped cot only to improve the purity of the supply, but by force of- circumstances to justify, within/reasonable limits, a more adequate price to the producer who exercises due and proper- care in the handling of his product. OPINIONS OF COUNCIL Cr MTndoe, moving the adoption of the report, said that the thanks and gratitude of the committee were due to the officers who had 'assisted it. The report submitted by Dr Hereus was exceedingly illuminating, as it showed that the city’s milk supply was by no means what it ought to be. Whilst the committee was conducting its investigations it had been waited bn by two deputations representing the milk suppliers and retailers with regard to the fixation of prices, but the committee felt that any such action should come from the Government and not from the City 1 Council. The committee’s aim was to examine the question of 'the city’s milk supply, thoroughly, and, if possible, improve on it so that the public would recognise that its ..interests. in this respect were being guarded. Examination of milk supplied by various producers showed a variation of 7000 to 11,000,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre, and the committee had tentatively fixed on 100,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre as a suitable standard. It was proposed to issue acredited certificates to suppliers who attained this standard, but first all suppliers would be licensed. Testa would be conducted by the'University under the supervision of Dr Hereus, and provided a supplier’s milk came up to standard he would be issued an A , grade certificate, and possibly a B grade certificate would be issued as well. It was thought that by this method public health would be safeguarded. People would probably be prepared to pay a little more for first-grade milk, and it wag hoped that vendors of the lower grade would make every effort to come up to standard. The committee’s proposals, if approved, should thus fulfil a twofold purpose. First, they would improve the city’s milk supply, and, secondly, they would spur the suppliers to keep their milk up to the requisite standard. It would be necessary, when the scheme came into operation, to collaborate with the University. Surprise samples would be taken so that no supplier would be able to “ plant ” good milk on the inspector. An advantage of the committee’s scheme was that no capital expenditure would.be necessitated on the part of the suppliers, but it would call for greater personal cleanliness in milking the cows, and every possible measure would be taken to prevent contamination. The quantity of milk consumed per person in Dunedin was much less than it ought to be. There was a plethora of milk on the market, but people would not buy it. Cr Silveretone: They have not the money. Cr M'lndoe said that even people who had the money did not appear to be inclined to drink milk. Whilst the committee whole-heartedly supported a campaign to encourage people to drink more milk, it could not do so unless it assured them a pure supply. The committee had also found that pasteurisation, while it did not make bad milk good, at least preserved the purity of good milk and went a long way towards preventing contamination. Cr Borrie seconded the motion and referred to the words “if not necessary’’ in the second paragraph of the report, and asked that “ and ” be substituted for "if not." It was no great injustice to ask the suppliers to attain a certain standard in the milk. Tests by Dr Kerens showed that many of the local suppliers attained the standard set by the committee, although a good number did not reach it. . The use of milk was not altogether a matter of cost, for when money wag not so scarce as it was to-day people who could well afford it did not regard milk as an essential article of food, especially for children. Cr Shepherd said he believed that eventually the scheme brought down by the committee would prove one of the most important ever undertaken by the council. He thought the matter was being attacked in , the right direction.

I Cr Campbell congratulated the commitI tee on its valuable report, which he considered would do an immense amount of good. . Cr Jones drew attention to the fact that the last report submittted by the council’s sanitary inspector showed that out of 460 samples taken 37 were not up to standard, 17 were deficient in milk fat, 11 were deficient in milk solids, and 11 had added water in proportion varying from 5 per cent, to 22.7 per cent. He considered that the people would never be satisfied till they had a municipal milk supply similar to that in Wellington. The Wellington supply was paying its way, and 84 per cent, of the householders in the city obtained their, milk from it, which showed that they were getting a higher standard of milk distributed under a better system than that obtaining in Dunedin. During the committee’s conference with the medical officer of health (Dr Ritchie) the latter complimented ‘ the council’s inspector on the manner in which he had co-operated with him. Cr Jones said he hoped that the committee’s i scheme would be a step towards the council taking over the city milk supply. In answer to a question by Cr Shacfclock, Cr Jones said that the price' of milk in Wellington was slightly higher than in Dunedin.

Cr Begii: How much is it there? Cr Jones: Fjvepence to s*d per quart. Cr Munro said he did not wish to throw cold water on the committee’s proposals, but it seemed to him that they were only tinkering with the question. He considered that the council, on behalf of the public, and especially the growing children, should look on it as a duty to go further into the question. Wellington, prior to municipalising its milk supply, had the worst supply jn New Zealand. To-day be could say with safety that the milk delivered by the Wellington City Council was superior on an average to that in any other part of New Zealand. Milk was of such vital importance to growing children that it was the duty of the council to set up a committtee to go into the question of a municipal milk supply, for, until some public body launched out and took charge of all milk delivered in the city the public would never get a satisfactory supply. Cr Silverstone said that this was the first step towards an improvement in Dunedin’s milk supply. He was sure that if the system outlined in the report were adopted there would be a scramble among the suppliers to get A grade certificates. The only people who would not get the best milk would be those who could not pay for it. The Mayor said that the report had certainly opened up a profitable discussion, and whether the scheme went any further or not, the steps already taken were of value. He invited Cr Borne to give some interesting facts which he had previously put before the committee. Cr Borrie outlined the case of a child of six whose teeth had been in a hopeless condition, but had improved to a normal state after a year of drinking milk. The Mayor also spoke of the food value of milk.

Cr Marlow complimented the committee on the report it had brought down, and said that he wanted to be sure that no means had been overlooked of raising the present standard without involving the council in considerable expenditure. Cr MTndoe, in reply, said that the committtee had gone carefully into the question of a municipal milk supply. They knew .that it would cost a great deal of money. * The system now in operation in Wellington had taken 17 years to reach its present state. It had been started thepe when the position was practically desperate, and the system had been built up step by step. Wellington had not plunged overnight into an undertaking costing £250,000. It was realised that this was not the time to involve the city in a large expenditure, but if the measures outlined were adopted they would improve the present supply without a great deal of coat to •the city. He, thought that there were pasteurising plants operating here and four bottling plants. These could be taken over and compensation paid. The motion for adoption of the report was then put to the meeting and carried.