Little Waste Of School Milk In Wellington

Press, Volume C, Issue 29510, 11 May 1961, Page 17

Little Waste Of School Milk In Wellington

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, May 10.

The percentage of wastage of school milk is infinitesimal so far as Wellington is concerned, the general manager of the City Council milk department, Mr E. L. Benseman. says in his annual report. Milk returned from schools was separated, and the cream manufactured into butter, the report said. During last year, the milk department received from 152 whools, only 1J to 2 per cent, of unconsumed milk. This was an excellent percentage, and it was noticeable that since the introduction of homogenised milk the percentage had fallen to about 1 per cent. It had been said that if the school-milk scheme were abolished, treatment stations would work below capacity, thereby increasing the cost of treatment a gallon of milk, the only result being an increase in the price of milk to householders, the report said.

As far as Wellington was concerned, school milk had never meant that the plant had been operating to capacity. and neither would its

elimination mean working below capacity. The abolition of the scheme would mean a simple internal re-organisa-tion, said the report.

As for the statement that elimination would mean increased cost of treating per gallon, the milk-in-schools scheme had not proved a remunerative proposition.

Where the total throughput of a station was very small, the loss of school milk might, however, have some adverse effect on costs, the report said.