50 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES 



GRADING MILK 



An accurate answer regarding the richness, safety, cleanli- 

 ness, and sweetness of a sample of milk is the real beginning 

 of successful milk inspection. However, inspection presup- 

 poses the existence of standards of quality, and in every other 

 line of merchandise these standards are arranged so as to 

 recognize classes or grades corresponding to market demands. 



The idea of grading milk is not a new one, as in 1866 in 

 England 4 * regulations were promulgated recognizing two 

 grades "of milk, one adapted to city trade and one to manu- 

 facturing purposes. Suggestions for grading the city milk 

 supply began to be made in New York City before 1907 but 

 the first official grading of a municipal milk supply in this 

 country was probably that at Geneva, N. Y. in 1907. r ' A 

 plan of grading the milk supply of New York City went into 

 effect in January, 1912/' 1 This plan established a number 

 of commercial grades and required that each bottle of milk 

 bear the designation of its grade. The Milk Commission 

 appointed by a philanthropic organization called the New 

 York Milk Committee in 1912 "- recommended a plan for milk 

 grading which was essentially an amplification of the pre- 

 vious New York City plan. The grading plans of the city 

 of New York and of the Milk Commission have been based 

 mainly upon the results obtained from dairy scores and the 

 bacterial count of the milk. It should also be noted that 

 both of these plans for grading recognize the importance of 

 pasteurization. As already explained no relation has been 

 demonstrated between the dairy scores as actually obtained 

 and the quality of the milk while bacterial counts are at 

 best only an indirect way of measuring the keeping quality 

 of the milk. The citv of New York has continued with its 



W H. N. Parker, City Milk Supply, p. 370. 



60 H. A. Harding, Publicity and Payment Bases on Quality as Factors in 

 Improving a City Milk Supply, Bui. 337, N. Y. A&r. Exp. Sta., 1911. 



51 W. H. Park, The Future Milk Supply of New York City, Ann. Proc., 

 Amer. Asso. Med. Milk Com., 5, pp. 99-103, 1911. 



52 First Report of the Commission on Milk Standards Appointed by the 

 New York Milk Committee, Public Health Reports 27, pp. 673-700, 1912. 



