[Report 1932] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1932
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1932] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/380 (page 11)
    Between 1921 and 1931 the proportion ol the population housed not more than two per room has increased irom 4ti to almost 58 per cent., while the proportion housed not more than three per room has increased Irom 72 to 81 per cent. Stated otherwise, the proportion of the population living more than two persons per room has fallen from 54 per cent, in 1921 to 42 per cent, in 1931. Whatever view may come to be taken of one of the responsible factors, the descent of the birth-rate, these are striking figures of importance as regards the city as a whole. The Milk Supply.—As regards the quality of the general milk supply, the average butter fat content in any month rarely falls below 3-5 per cent., and is occasionally as high as 4 per cent. This may be regarded as due to three factors—(1) improved quality of milk as produced, (2) the effect of bulking before dis- tribution, (3) the influence of bottling of milk, a procedure which removes the possibility of carelessness in dipping when milk is sold loose. A small increase has taken place in the sale of Certified and Grade “ A ” (Tuberculin-Tested) milk, but the total sales of these two grades to the public remain small at 1,268 gallons per day. It is estimated that Glasgow consumes daily about 65,000 gallons of milk, of which two-thirds are pasteurised (unofficially) by holding methods, while of the remaining third (about 20,000 gallons approximately) half is “ flash ” pasteurised and half consumed raw. There are about twenty distributing firms dealing with quantities varying from 1,000 to 7,000 gallons daily. The results of the examination of market milk for the presence of bacteria indicate that 70 per cent, of the samples were comparable in purity with milk of Grade “ A ” quality, while in many cases still higher standards were reached. The special investigation into tubercle bacilli in milk, con- ducted simultaneously in the four large cities of Scotland, was concluded in Glasgow at the end of March, 1932. The results show that of 329 samples of raw milk taken while the milk was in transit and before distribution, 14-6 per cent, gave positive results for living tubercle bacilli. Of milk as retailed, 9 per cent, were positive out of 200 samples, while of 348 samples of pasteurised milk 6 were positive. Of these pasteurised samples, 4 were in respect of milk heated by the “flash” method of pasteurisation and 2 were in respect of milk pasteurised by the bolder process. In one case the milk was retained at 145°F. for only twenty minutes, and in the other case the result was positive in the second guinea-pig inoculated. These results demonstrate the value of proper methods of pasteurisation as a safeguard against the bovine tubercle bacillus. The position as regards pasteurisation may be stated as follows: — Objections have been raised to the principle of pasteurisation