40
Appendix A.
Extracts from Minutes of Evidence taken before the Departmental Committee appointed. by the Board of Agriculture to inquire and report upon the desirability of Regulations, under Section 4 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899, for Milk and Cream.
Chairman:-Lord Wenlock.
I.
Dr. A. Hill, M. O. H. and Public Analyst, Birmingham, in answer to the Chairman :-- "78. Condensed milk does enter largely in competition with British milk does it not?—I believe it does, and it is consumed in Birmingham.
a
79. The unfortunate native producer is justified, then, in wishing that we would leave the foreign alone ?-The commoner kinds of condensed milks are generally very poor in fat, but there are certain brands which are exceedingly good. The First Swiss brand is genuine milk, and the Nestle's brand is all very good milk, but there are a great many others where the fat has been abstracted; in fact, the milk is condensed from skimmed milk, so they are very poor in fat indeed. There is great ingenuity displayed by the people who issue these goods in taking care to hide by one end of the label that statement on the label which says it is made from skimmed milk. There is a great deal of fraud in that
But I have examined very few samples it."
way.
In answer to Dr. Voelcker :
"80. You say that from your knowledge of what you have examined--these units. as you term them you know that many of them are poor ?—Many of them I know are poor, but I have not had many samples. They are starvation to the children fed on them, there is no doubt about that
"
II.
Dr. Bernard Dyer, D.Sc., F.I.C., Public Analyst for Leicestershire, Rutland, Wilts and Truro, in answer to the Chairman :—
368. Can you tell us anything about condensed milk ?-With regard to condensed milk it occurs to me that probably the best way of fixing a fut standard for condensed milk would be to decide that condensed milk ought to contain at least as much fat as it contains of proteids. If 3.5 was taken as the average proportion of proteids in good milk -and it is probably about that--that would be equivalent to 3-5 standard for fat, that is to say condensed milk should be made from whole milk not having less than 33 per cent. of fat. That is what it would resolve itself into, but I would say a quantity of fat equal to the proteiis contained in it. Of course, a maker of condensed milk has a selective power over the milk that he uses; he is not compelled to buy or to use poor milk, and lie can very well take precautions to see that the milk he gets and uses for condensing is milk of a good quality. I think practically that would be an easy way of arriving at the standard.'
71
III.
Sir C. Cameron, C.B., M.D., Public Analyst for Dublin, in answer to Dr. Voelcker:—
"2512. Do you think any standard should be fixed with regard to the composition of that?--I have examined some specimens of condensed milk containing very little more fat than is in uncondensed milk, I certainly think that the quantity of fat which should be eliminated from milk before it is condensed ought to be determined. I think some samples of condensed milk that I have examined are monstrous; it is very difficult to get convictions though.
17
In answer to Prof. Thorpe
"2514. Are you aware that for the Service, for the Army and Navy, they do specify a certain quantity of fat that the condensed milk shall contain ?—Yes, I am.