[Report 1928] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council.

Staffordshire (England). County Council.

Date:: 1928

Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1928] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

48/94 (page 46)

With regard to the tuberculous milk samples, the milk was produced in the county in 70 instances, and outside in 12. In last year’s report it was stated that there had been a steady improvement in the cleanliness of the milk examined and again this year I am glad to be able to record that this improvement has been maintained, and it will be seen on reference to the Table that 70% of the samples were clean. As in former years, the practice of sending the names of producers whose milk was not found to be satisfactory to the County Farm Institute has been continued, so that they could have the advantage of expert advice. This scheme has, I think, on the whole worked well and that more attention has been paid to the production of clean milk is obvious from the figures quoted. The amount of tuberculous milk found during the year is roughly 6%, and I regret that I cannot record any great improvement in this matter, but as the subject is now being considered by the Public Health Committee it is needless to make any further reference to it at the present time. At the beginning of 1928 licenses had been granted for the production of the following graded milks :—One for certified milk, three for Grade A (Tuberculin Tested), and twenty-two licenses for Grade A milk. During the year, four more Grade A (T.T.) licenses were issued by the Ministry of Health and twenty-six Grade A licenses were granted by the County Council. On the 31st December, however, the records show that the holder of the Certified Milk license had relinquished it, as well as one of the seven who hold Grade A (T.T.) licenses from the Ministry of Health, so that at that date there were six Grade A (T.T.) licenses and 46 ordinary Grade A licenses, though the actual number of Grade A licenses issued by the County Council was 48, and the number given is due to the fact that two of the producers applied for and obtained licenses to sell Grade A (T.T.) milk. As in former years, the practice has been continued of taking samples of all graded milks at monthly intervals for bacteriological investigation to see if the standard of cleanliness laid down in the Regulations was maintained. From the 1st March, 1928, to the 28th February, 1929, 597 samples were examined, of which 525 were satisfactory and 72 were not. Tubercle bacilli were found in four samples of milk.