Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-11-28
CITY MILK ORDINANCE
AND CONVICTION FOR
MILK ABDUL ITERATION


Editor The Gazette: In two recent
issues OF your paper note tne con.
viction of two milk dealers for selling
milk beluw the legal standard OF ~. 8
per cent OF solid. The milk Inspector
and the Municipal Court are TO be
commended for bringing to Justice any
offenders of the law, but 1t seems TO me
important that the law itself shall first
be strictly just.
Section of the city milk ordinance
reads;
10 all prosecutions under the three pre-
ceding sections, IL the milk ID shown upon
analysis to contain more than 81 per cent of
watery fluid or to contain less than 1875 per
cent Of solids. not less than one Fourth of
which must be fat v shull be deemed for
the purpose of such prosecution to be auuter-
ated. and not of good standard quality.
1t is true that the law can Justly
define what shall be a milk of good
standard quality, aud 1876 ger cent of
solids dous represent fair average of
the mixed milk of herd, hut that it
can BIZ assumed that milk falling
below this standard ia necessarily
adulterated no one familiar with the
subject will admit.
In fact, milk from individual COWS
may fall as low rs 10 per cent, and the
mixed milk of a herd az low as II per
cent of total solids Such milk might
be offered for sale, and yet, on the
basis of 1875 per cent of total solids,
the dairyman would be convicted of
watering his milk. II convictions are
made because Of milk containing from
l2 to IL. . per cent of total solids con-
siderable normal sample OF milk may
be uniustly condemned. 10 short, the
standard Of Ii per cent of total solids
is unjust ana certainly eau not be con
sidered q rational basis for judging of
adulteration.
A better standard for this purpose
would be 1l.5 per cent of total SO ids
or better, 80 per cent of solids not fat
and B per cent of fat. This is the
standard proposed by DIR, Henry Left
mann, one OF our best Amer lean
authorities, and is also the standard
adopted by the Society of Public
Analysts of England But even this
standard is mildly criticised by Vieth,
the CREST German authority, in these
words: "My object is by no means to
raise the cry that the standard adopted
by the Society OF Public Analysts is too
high; On the contrary | think it very
| iudiciously fixed, but 10 unfolding the
standard of purity it should not be for
| gotten that the COWS have never given
their assent to ii, and that they will nj
times produces milk below STANDARD. :"
Richmond. perhaps the greatest Eng.
lish authority, In speaking of the pre-.
cediug standard says: According to
the authors experience the limit of 8. [
per cent for fat is certainly reasonable
for the MIXED milk Of a whole herd
such milk rarely falls appreoiably below
this limit, but certain American oh,
servers have, however, found that even
these limits are somewhat too high fol
the milk of Holstein Tristan COWS. ="
In our examinations " Wilmington
milk "A per cent OF the samples were
found below the standard OF 80 PEI
cent OF fat and So per cent of solids
not fat. This is undoubtedly q bad
state Of affairs, and shows we do moi
want any higher standard than thai
| proposed, or il will be difficult tu find
any good milk in Wilmington.
| Allow me to urge that the CITY
| Council carefully consider the question
of milk standards and revise the present
law, which is both unjust and irrational,
| ~ ~ iuloIbubb lutb pul
city milk inspection be reduced to q
scientific basis. The milk inspector,
who is required to buy from his owr
pocket the chemicals and apparatu:
necessary for his work, can not be OK,
pected to do more than he is doing.
Certainly a 50-uent lactometer is moi
a sufficient equipment for milk in.
spsctinn.
The city should provide a room and
suitable apparatus for the analysis Of
milk in accordance with modern
methods Such an equipment could
be purchased fora coupe of hundred
dollars One hundred fat determine
tious by the Babcock method anG
specific gravity determinations coulG
be made in day, and thus it woulc
be possible to analyze all the milk sole
in Wilmington at frequent intervals.
Without suitable facilities provided
by the city for tIs regular and nequen
analysis OF milk there can be no snlf
cient control over our milk supply, ant
the law becomes practically deal
letter. Frederick ID, Chester.
Director of the State Board OF Health
Laboratory, Delaware College.
Newark, November 10th, 1901.