Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1917-01-25
TELLS ABOUT THE
CONTROL OF MILK
Information a. to the Interstate
and Intrastate Control of
the Supply.

The following Is an extract from
the annual address of the president
of the American Public Health asso-
citation, delivered at Cincinnati, Ohio,
October "a, 1916, and was published
IL the november issue of the "Amer-
lean Journal of Public Health.
1t will be generally conceded that
milk is a more important factor in
the spread of disease than any other
element OF our food supply, and that
it may even exceed in Importance Of
our water supply as a disseminator
OF disease. We know how frequently
milk has been shown 70 have been re-
sponsble for the spread of typhoid fe-
yer, septic throat and perhaps 9th
ers; we do not know and cannot even
surmise how many thousands have
become i'll or even lost their lives
through untraced infection in the
milk. Some states and many munici-
palities have attespted 10 control this
flood of infection pouring into our
towns and cities from the country dis
tricts by inspection OF dairy farms,
and in few instances by compulsory
pasteurization Of the greater part of
the milk supply. 1t is familiar to all
how unsatisfactory the present sys-
tenn of inspection has proved, and how
costly il has been. We see in a state
supplying milk to it's own cities and
also to cities located in other states,
inspectors not only from a number of
cities within the state, but inspectors
from other states, all travelling back
and forth and crossing the track Of
each other in their travels This in
spection could not only be more eff
ciently conducted but it could be more
economically if all of the inspections
in a state were done by a corpses Of
inspectors under a single head and
working under uniform instructions.
The federal government has not up to
this time taken a decided part in safe
guarding the milk sold in interstate
commerce. though there are at least
two bureaus with jurisdiction, the
bureau of chemistry has authority un-
der the Pure Food and Drug Act and
terstate Quarantine Act has the pow
er to prevent the shipment in inter
state commerce Of milk which may
convey contagious diseases from one
state TO another Under this broad
power the public health service can
prevent the shipment or milk from
non-tuberculin tested cows and the
shipment of milk from localities in
which contagious diseases, the infec-
tion of which may be transmitted by
milk, are prevailing TO such an extent
as TO render possible the spread of
those diseases from one state to an
other. We thus see that this impor-
tant factor in the spread of some of
the contagious diseases-infected
milk-may be controlled by the fedar-
al government. If the congress pro
vides the funds. just as the federal
government controls the packing in
dustry. For purely interstate milk
shipments the state should control the
sanitary quality of the milk until il
reaches the city limits When IL
reaches the municipality the proper
authorities should require that all
milk sold should be efficiently pasteu-
rized There are those who are op-
posed to pasteurization for one rea-
son on another, as they do not believe
that pasteurization can be efficiently
enforced but the valuc Of the proceed
ure as "A public health measure cannot
any longer be questioned, and the
practicavility Of its enforcement has
been conclusively demonstrated in
large and small communities.
ALMA BOARD OF HEALTH