AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION SANITARY 

 ENGINEERING SECTION 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE OX MILK SUPPLY 



I. Introduction. 



The Committee has limited its activ- 

 ities to certain subjects on the pasteur- 

 ization of milk which have a bearing 

 on public health, and has attempted to 

 bring together certain information on 

 milk pasteurization vi^hich will be of 

 service to health officials and others 

 interested in the subject. The mem- 

 bers of the Committee submitted re- 

 ports on the following divisions of the 

 work: The Present Status and Control 

 of I\Iilk Pasteurization, Mr. H. A. 

 Whittaker ; The Effect of Pasteuriza- 

 tion on the Composition of Milk, Mr. 

 Albert F Stevenson ; The Mechanical 

 Features of Pasteurization Plants and 

 Responsibility of Operation, Mr. S. M. 

 Heulings ; The Analytical Control of 

 Pasteurization Plants, Dr. H. D. 

 Pease ; and The State and Municipal 

 Supervision of Milk Pasteurization, 

 Mr. Mayo Tolman. These reports 

 were re-arranged and co-ordinated by 

 the Chairman, Mr. H. A. Whittaker. 

 Mr. R. E. Irwin was made an associate 

 member of the Committee in October, 

 1919, after the present report was pre- 

 pared. He has carefully reviewed the 

 report and offered certain suggestions. 



II. The Present Status of Milk 

 Pasteurizatiok. 



Inquiries were sent to all states and 

 territories of the United ^tates and 

 the provinces of the Dominion of Can- 

 ada requesting information regarding 

 the number of pasteurization plants in 

 operation and the control exercised 

 over the pasteurization of milk for 

 human consumption. Sixty-three ques- 

 tionnaires were sent out to which 43 

 replies were received. 



(1) Number of Plants in Operation. 

 In regard to the number of pasteuriza- 



tion plants, fifteen replied that no rec- 

 ord was available, while twenty-eight 

 provided information which showed a 

 total of 1,750 plants in operation. In 

 view of the fact that the 28 replies 

 were from various sections of the 

 United States and Canada, and might 

 be considered as representative of the 

 entire territory, it may be estimated 

 that there are roughly 4,200 pasteuri- 

 zation plants in operation for, the treat- 

 ment of milk for human consumption 

 in these countries at the present time. 



(2) State, Territorial, and Provin- 

 cial Control. The information received 

 on state, territorial, and provincial con- 

 trol of pasteurization showed that ten 

 had either laws or regulations on the 

 subject, while thirty-six had no legal 

 authority. In reply to whether the 

 state, territorial or provincial control 

 was effectual, only two stated that it 

 would be considered satisfactory in 

 their respective jurisdictions. 



(3) Municipal Control. In response 

 to the question of what attempt was 

 made by municipalities to control the 

 pasteurization of market milk, twenty- 

 five replied that certain municipalities 

 in their state or province were exert- 

 ing control, while eighteen stated that 

 no attempt was made to- maintain any 

 supervision. Information obtained on 

 the control of milk pasteurization di- 

 rectly from twenty-one of the largest 

 cities in the United States showed that 

 nine had milk ordinances, three were 

 governed by state laws, and nine did 

 not have any legal authority. The 

 method of supervising pasteurized 

 milk in the cities having legal author- 

 ity consisted of inspection of the pas- 

 teurization plants at various intervals 

 and the examination of samples of 

 milk. In one instance, the city ordi- 



