Pasteurization of Milk 



27 



words, this factor does not justify the 

 averaging of the temperatures of diiTer- 

 ent portions of the product under treat- 

 ment at any particular time period. It 

 is the opinion of the Committee that a 

 temperature of 145 degrees F. applied 

 for 30 minutes to every particle of the 

 milk under- treatment consitutes a pro- 

 cess which can be applied under ap- 

 propriate practical conditions without 

 endangering what has been popularly 

 known as the "cream line" of the pro- 

 duct. It should be specified that pas- 

 teurized milk shall be promply cooled 

 to and maintained at 50 degrees F. or 

 below, a principle which should be ap- 

 plied to the handling of all milk. 



(2) Department to Control Pasteur- 

 ization. The Committee feels that the 

 control of pasteurization plants in the 

 various states is properly a function of 

 the state health departments, except 

 in those cases where the municipal 

 health department has a division for 

 milk work exclusively, organized on 

 an efficient basis that will give the 

 municipality competent supervision 

 and control of not only all the milk 

 within the municipality but also its 

 production, preliminary handling and 

 transportation. This division having 

 a superintendent and assistants with 

 an organized staflf of inspectors for the 

 inspection of the sources of the supply 

 and all creameries or shipping stations 

 through which the milk passes ; also 

 bacteriological and chemical labora- 

 tories in charge of technical operators 

 and assistants ; an engineering staff 

 in charge of a chief engineer, compet- 

 ent to pass on the construction of dairy 

 buildings and apparatus and direct the 

 operation of the apparatus and also a 

 system of rules and regulations, that 

 when enforced will insure safety to 

 the public in the matter of the milk 

 supply. It is probable that a majority 

 of the existing pasteurizing plants wijl 

 fall under municipal control, but grad- 

 ually more and more plants are being 



constructed in outlying districts to 

 which municipal authority cannot well 

 extend, and these should be covered by 

 the inspection service of the state 

 health departments, and should be un- 

 der their authority. At present in 

 several States the supervision of pas- 

 teurizing machinery is a function of 

 the department of agriculture. It is 

 the opinion of the Committee that the 

 control of a process so fundamentally 

 allied with health as is the pasteuriza- 

 tion of milk, lies properly with the 

 health authorities, rather than with the 

 department of agriculture. 



The state health department should 

 promulgate minimum standards for the 

 control of milk pasteurization, which 

 may be supplemented by the munici- 

 palit-Jes to fit their peculiar needs, but 

 in no case shall the minimum standards 

 of the municipality be less than those 

 for the state at large. Again the health 

 departments of the various states are 

 equipped to undertake the medical, 

 engineering and laboratory work that 

 is absolutely essential, if proper super- 

 vision and control of the design, con- 

 struction, and operation of milk pas- 

 teurization plants is to be maintained. 

 The prosecution of failures to pasteurize 

 milk properly is naturally a function ot 

 the health department. 



(3) Requirements Regarding Ap- 

 paratus. A special permit should be 

 required by the state department of 

 health or by the municipality having 

 an adequate health department for the 

 erection or alteration of a pasteurizing 

 plant, and the issuance of this permit 

 should be based upon plans, specifica- 

 tions and detailed drawings, submitted 

 to that office for their permanent files. 

 This recommendation is in line with 

 the procedure already adopted for 

 water supply and sewerage systems. 

 These drawings should be carefully 

 studied in the light of the information 

 relating! to the defects and their dan- 

 gers commonly found jn pasteurizing 



