32 THE MARKETING OF WHOLE MILK 



supply, much of which could scarcely have been brought 

 about by competition alone. 



Section 6. Standards and Grades 



Legal standards for milk are quite necessary. In the 

 Jirst place, the consumer cannot determine for himself 

 whether the milk complies with his particular consump- 

 tion standard or not. Though he can in a general way tell 

 whether milk is deficient in fat and in solids not fat, there 

 is a wide range within which he cannot distinguish. That 

 being the case, there is always the temptation for competi- 

 tors to cut down slightly in the quality, as measured by 

 fat content particularly. Hence competition often reduces 

 rather than improves the quality. As for sanitary condi- 

 tions under which the milk is handled and as to its safety 

 with regard to its germ-carrying possibilities, the con- 

 sumer is entirely in the dark. The result is that the hon- 

 est producer and the honest distributor are penalized, since 

 the dishonest man can sell an inferior milk at the same 

 price that the better milk brings. 



Government standards are usually minimum standards, 

 and it often appears that there is a tendency for them to 

 become also maximum standards. For example, where 

 there is a minimum requirement of 3.25 per cent fat, the 

 dealers are inclined to market milk which comes as near 

 this minimum standard as possible without too much risk 

 of occasionally dropping below. There are, however, in- 

 stances where competition seems to keep the quality rather 

 high. In Columbus, Ohio, though the city minimum is 3 

 per cent, a considerable proportion of milk sold is 4 per 

 cent or better, which the dealers claim is about the stand- 

 ard demanded by consumers. 



