CERTIFIED MILK 207 



society organized under and chartered by the Medical Society 

 of the State of New York and which has not been pronounced 

 by such authority to be free from antiseptics, added preserv- 

 atives, and pathogenic bacteria in excessive numbers. All 

 milk sold as certified milk shall be conspicuously marked with 

 the name of the commission certifying it." 



Certified milk must be regarded as a special product rather 

 than as a part of the regular milk supply. It is used mostly 

 for the feeding of infants and invalids under the direction of a 

 physician. Even in the cities where it is used most, it consti- 

 tutes less than 1 per cent of the total milk supply. Inasmuch 

 as the retail price to consumers varies in different places from 

 10 to 20 cents a quart, consumers, generally, have not been 

 willing to pay the additional price necessary to produce milk 

 of this high degree of excellence. 



Kelly 1 discusses the value of certified milk as follows : 



" While certified milk is in a class by itself and does not enter 

 into competition with ordinary grades of market milk, it has 

 much educational value in cities where it is used. There is no 

 doubt that the advertising of certified milk does much to in- 

 form consumers that clean milk costs more than dirty milk 

 and that a cheap milk is apt to be dangerous. 



"The influence of certified milk on dairymen in general is 

 little more complex. Certified dairies have certainly shown 

 how to produce the finest grade of milk and have served as 

 models along this line. An unfortunate feature has been that 

 many of them have been operated at a financial loss, and this 

 has had a demoralizing effect upon many dairymen, who have 

 been led to believe that the production of clean milk necessi- 

 tates the outlay of large sums of money in expensive equipment. 



"As would naturally be expected, certified milk with its 

 small number of bacteria will keep sweet for a long time. The 

 theory that clean milk should have a long keeping quality works 



1 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bui. No. 1. 



