Condensed -Milk and Milk Powder 107 



PART IV 

 FROM FACTORY TO CONSUMER 



CHAPTER XVI 

 STAMPING 



Every well regulated condensing factory, selling condensed milk 

 in hermetically sealed tin cans, employs some system of marking 

 the cans. This is important for future reference. 



When defective condensed milk is returned to the factory, the 

 marks on the cans tell the manufacturer the date of manufacture, 

 and his own record on file in the factory shows the conditions under 

 which the defective milk was made. In this way defects can usually 

 be traced to their causes and the recurrence of similar trouble can 

 be avoided. 



In some factories the batches of condensed milk are numbered 

 from one up, and the cans are stamped with the respective batch 

 number. This method is simple but may prove undesirable, since 

 it informs the competitors also of the date of manufacture of com- 

 peting brands. In most factories a code of letters and figures is 

 used, designating the factory, the date and the number of the batch 

 of each day. Thus for instance: a concern has three factories, A, 

 B and C. X stands for the current year, the letters E, F, G, H, I, 

 J, K, L, M, N, O, P indicate the twelve months of the year, re- 

 spectively, the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., represent the day of the month 

 and also the batches of condensed milk made in one day. 



Example : A can of condensed milk belongs to the second batch 

 made April 9, 1913, at factory B. The can would be stamped as 

 follows : B 9 H X 2. 



The cans are usually stamped on the bottom, that is, on the 

 end which carries the cap. The stamping is done by the sealer. 

 Small interchangeable rubber letters and figures are used. The 

 stamping ink should contain a drier and be waterproof. In small 

 factories the stamping is done by hand. It can be done very rapidly. 



