Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1917. CLEAN MILK SUPPLIES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1737, 6 October 1917, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1917. CLEAN MILK SUPPLIES.

A MEDICAL aulhorily at one of (ho conferences on baby week stated that Uondon milk contains more germs per cubic inch than almost any oilier substance in (he world. A correspondent of a London newspaper stales: If everyone realised that milk as it leaves a healthy cow contains a negligible quantity of bacteria, that its subsequent hygienic value depends on the number and kind of bacteria that may exist in it, that the milk our children get usually contains millions of bacteria in each teaspoonful, and that proper care from the cow to the consumer would ensure its containing only thousands in the place of millions —a difference that may result in life instead of death —the actual existence of a proper supply would be assured. The problem has been solved in the United States. There milk is graded by the Health Department of the city or State on the basis of the number of bacteria it contains when it reaches the consumer. Every milk vendor must obtain an annual license to sell milk, which clearly detine- the quality in which he deals, whether grade A .suitable for infant feeding, grade B for adults, or grade C, that is not Jit for infant feeding nor for adult use, hut is safe for cooking purposes. Serious infraction of the regulations is punished by the license being cancelled. The most important effect of grading milk in America has been to raise the quality of the lowest grade so that at the present time cleaner milk is within the reach of the poor of many American cities than is obtainable by any class in the United Kingdom.