28 



The American Public Health Association 



plants as brought forth in the preced- 

 ing pages of the report of this Commit- 

 tee, and the permits withheld if there 

 is any possibility that defects in the 

 design may jeopardize operation. Not 

 only must the design of the proposed 

 pasteurization plant be free from de- 

 fects, but provision must also be made 

 for accurate control of the process, 

 and for the securing of complete rec- 

 ords of the operation of the plant, as 

 shown by recording temperature and 

 time devices on the heater holders, 

 and cooling apparatus. 



(4) Qualifications of Plant Oper- 

 ators. The pasteurization of milk re- 

 quires not only a proper building and 

 efficient apparatus for treatment of the 

 milk and sterilization of the containers, 

 but, also, competent, efficient and re- 

 liable operation of the apparatus. This 

 requires that the prospective operators 

 should have special training at a dairy 

 school or under an experienced and 

 competent operator of a pasteurizing 

 plant, before being allowed to assume 

 the charge of a plant. To bring these 

 operators closely under legal control, 

 no person should be permitted to have 

 supervision of the pasteurization of 

 milk or to operate milk pasteurizing 

 apparatus without having passed an 

 examination conducted by the health 

 authorities. This examination should 

 show that the person is not only com- 

 petent to operate the apparatus, but is 

 also familiar with the laws relating 

 to this work and the responsibility of 

 the supervisor or operator to the pub- 

 lic. 



A license at nominal cost, renewable 

 annually, should be issued by the health 

 department to person desiring to en- 

 gage in this work and who show they 

 are qualified to perform it. The sus- 

 pension or revocation of such a license 

 for careless or improper work on the 

 part of the licensee should render it 

 impossible for such person to be em- 

 |)]oyed in any dair)- work within the 



jurisdiction of the health department 

 issuing the license until reinstatement. 



(5) Bacterial Results on Pasteuriza- 

 tion. There is probably no one phase 

 of the pasteurization problem that is 

 occasioning more thought and contro- 

 versy than that of the bacterial results 

 to be demanded. The Committee feels 

 that this is a problem to be studied 

 in each community, and the limit set 

 as a result of such investigation. Cli- 

 matic conditions, length of haul, type 

 of conveyance as by auto truck, refrig- 

 erator car, a common baggage car, and 

 many other factors, each affect the 

 bacterial content of the raw milk, and , 

 with it the content of the final prod- 

 uct, so that the Committee does not 

 beliete it possible to specify a mini- 

 mum standard that can be used nation- 

 wide. Any such standard would per- 

 mit of careless operation of pasteur- 

 izers in some cities, and with it the 

 placing of inferior milk on the mar- 

 kets ; while in other cities it might be- 

 come either a c|uestion of violating 

 the ordinance or going without this 

 article of food. 



The ordinances of several cities 

 specify a 99 per cent removal. Noth- 

 ing could be more ridiculous, for in 

 cases of raw milk with a low bacterial 

 content it is impossible to secure a 

 99 per cent removal ; while with a very 

 high content a removal of a greater 

 percentage is readily affected, and 99 

 per cent represents an inferior product, 

 and yet the percentage required can be 

 met even with faulty operation. 



(6) Penalties for Violations. To 

 insure compliance with an ordinance 

 it is unfortunately necessary to pro- 

 vide penalties for failure to do so. The 

 severity of penalties varies more or 

 less throughout the country, and it is 

 best that this feature of any milk or- 

 dinance be prepared to conform with 

 practice in that district. The Com- 

 mittee feels that, in order to insure 

 convictions for violations of those fea- 



