THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 113 



thing is wrong either dirty production, failure to cool the milk 

 promptly and efficiently and to keep it cool, or that it has been kept 

 too long. 



In the report of the committee of the American Public Health As- 

 sociation suggesting standard methods for the bacteriological exam- 

 ination of milk, it is stated that 



A high bacterial count in milk indicates lack of cleanliness in production or 

 lack of care after production. Age of the milk is also an important factor, 

 and in interpreting results the distance milk has to be brought, etc., should be 

 taken into consideration. Thus a count of 100,000 bacteria to a cubic centi- 

 meter should be considered a serious contamination in milk which may be 

 delivered to the consumer within a few hours of production, while a count of 

 no higher than 100,000 in milk produced at a distance and, say, 24 to 36 

 hours old is evidence of ordinarily good care. To produce a milk averaging 

 under 10,000 bacteria to the cubic centimeter requires the utmost care and 

 watchfulness of each detail. 



The report, in referring to leucocytes, states that these bacteria 

 are present in all normal milks, and that their number occasionally 

 fluctuates greatly without apparent cause. Milk from animals suffer- 

 ing from udder inflammations, it asserts, most constantly shows a high 

 leucocytic content, and is without question unfit for human consump- 

 tion; and while a leucocytic count of 500,000 or more to the cubic 

 centimeter in the case of a single animal may be transient and 

 negligible, when found in mixed milk it is sufficient evidence to 

 warrant the exclusion of such milk from the market until satisfactory 

 veterinary inspection of the herd may be made. 



Dr. Coit, the father of the American medical milk commissions, 

 states that a high bacterial content may indicate, in addition to 

 filthy dairy surroundings and careless collection and handling, a 

 diseased udder. It does not, he maintains, require expensive equip- 

 ment to obtain clean milk; in Kentucky, for example, five dairies, 

 with whitewashed barns and ordinary domestic cleanliness, being ap- 

 proved and certified by a medical milk commission, with counts 

 never above 4,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter. 



STANDARDS FIXED IN PURSUANCE OF FEDERAL FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. 



In pursuance of authority granted by the food and drugs act of 

 1906, the Bureau of Chemistry of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture has prescribed the following requirements for market 

 milk in interstate commerce : 



It must be the fresh, clean, lacteal secretion obtained by the complete milking 

 of healthy cows, properly fed and kept, excluding that obtained within 15 days 

 before and 10 days after calving; and must contain not less than 8.5 per cent 

 solids not fat and not less than 3.25 per cent of milk fat Bacteriological ly it 

 must not contain more than 500,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter for market 

 milk; not more than 100,000 for inspected milk; not more than 10,000 for 

 certified milk. 



In enforcing these standards, the kind of bacteria present in milk 

 may modify judgment as to its quality, and, when practicable, sani- 

 tary inspection of dairies and creameries furnishing the product is 

 also taken into consideration. 



UNIFORM PROCEDURE IN BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS. 



With a view to securing approximately uniform results as to the 

 content shown by bacteriological examinations, a committee was ap- 



82444 S. Doc. 863, 61-3 8 



