264 



THE MILK QUESTION 



istry. Chemical standards have been and remain very use- 

 ful indeed, necessary to detect adulteration, frauds, and 

 to determine the grades of milk, etc. 



Milk that meets standard requirements is not necessarily 

 standard milk. The legal standards are minimum require- 

 ments and express inferiority if anything. The standards 

 are the lowest grades that the law will permit. There are, 

 in fact, three standards by which milk should be judged: 

 (1) the chemical standards; (2) bacteriological standards; 

 (3) standards determined by inspection. All three are 

 necessary for the satisfactory control of the milk supply. 



The principal chemical standards are those for butter- 

 fat and total solids. The legal requirements for the butter- 

 fat and total solids in milk vary somewhat in different states, 

 as shown by the following table : 



LEGAL REQUIREMENTS COMPOSITION OF MILK 



* These states marked do not directly specify the solids not fat. The figure given in such 

 cases is the difference between the required total solids and the required fat. 



It has been found an advantage to keep the butter-fat 

 standard relatively high and the total solids at a minimum 

 of 12 per cent. This allows 8.5 per cent for solids not fat, 



