APPENDIX G 325 



is emptied through an opening in the floor, and the milk powder is 

 collected in 



'14. Metal cylinders. 



15. It is afterwards sifted through a fine gauze screen. The milk 

 is then packed in suitable receptacles.' 



APPENDIX G 



NOTES ON THE GRADING OF MILK 



THE efforts which have been made in various countries to improve the 

 general milk supply, have led those concerned to endeavour to establish 

 a standard for milk in order to obtain and maintain a satisfactory milk 

 supply. The American Medical Milk Commissions have perhaps done 

 more than other bodies in the investigation of the regulations which 

 should be laid down in order to obtain satisfactory grades of milk. 



The Commissions of the various States of America have adopted 

 their own standards, in some measure, but there are some points 

 upon which there is very general agreement, and for which similar 

 standards have been adopted by the majority of the commissions. 



Fundamentally, the standards are based upon the bacterial count 

 of the milk. In addition, standards are laid down for the fat content, 

 and for the total solids, which must be found in any sample of milk. 

 Attempts have been made also to obtain a test for the amount of dirt 

 present, which would enable some sort of standardisation to be made. 

 The standardisation of the leucocyte count has also been contem- 

 plated, but does not appear as yet to have reached a definite issue. 

 Recent investigations appear rather to show the difficulty of establishing 

 any such standard. 



Grades of Milk. The highest grade of milk produced in America 

 is very generally known as ' certified ' milk. Numerous regulations 

 have been drawn up for the production of this milk, and the Com- 

 missions, after due investigation of the conditions under which the milk 

 is produced, pass certain farms which conform to the required standards, 

 permitting them to state that the milk is of this quality for a certain 

 period. The bacterial count and the chemical composition of the 

 milk are regularly investigated. If the result of these examinations 

 is satisfactory, the permission is renewed : if unsatisfactory, it is 

 withdrawn. 



It is impossible for the general milk supply to reach this standard. 

 The cost of production is considerably higher than can be met by the 

 farmer for the prices of ordinary market milk. It has been necessary 

 therefore to introduce lower grades of milk which can be sold at a 

 cheaper rate than ' certified ' milk, but over which some control is also 

 exercised. The different States and cities have issued their own 

 regulations for grading, and it is not proposed to deal with these 

 individually. It seemed, however, of interest to give some brief notes 

 showing the nature of the standards laid down. The State of New York 

 issued regulations which came into force in November 1914 and which 

 described explicitly the nature of the grades in milk. Briefly they 

 amount to the following : 



