[Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Isle of Wight County Council.

  • Isle of Wight (England). County Council. n 83204987.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Isle of Wight County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/24 (page 7)
    BLIND PERSONS’ ACT, 1920. The number of blind persons in the Island is 104, of whom 52 are pensioners of the Isle of Wight Society for the benefit of the indigent Blind. This Society works in conjunction with the County Council under their scheme, and from time to time has received grants from the Council in aid of its expenses. The great majority of our blind persons are of mature age and these are taught Braile and pastime occupa- tions by the Society’s Home Visitor. The Education Committee undertakes responsibility for children and others who require instruction in institutions. INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD. MILK SUPPLY. All the milk consumed in the Island is produced here, and generally it is of good quality as shown by the reports of the Public Analyst (see below). Some of the district Medical Officers’ of Health remark in their reports on the excellent quality of the milk. Its purity, however, is not of such a high standard as your Committee aim at ; there is still dirty debris found in visible quantity in a fair proportion of the samples examined. The Medical Officer of Health of Shanklin “does not think the handling of milk is carried out with the care such an easily contaminated fluid should receive.” In Cowes a retailer was fined for selling “dirty” milk. The Medical Officer of Health of Ventnor considers that the cleansing facilities of milk churns might in some cases be improved. As regards the County Council the provisions of the Tuberculosis Order of 1925 of the Ministry of Agri- culture and Fisheries are being fully carried out. That Order came into operation on September 1st, 1925, and up till the end of the year 637 animals had been examined and reported upon by the appointed Veterinary Inspectors. These included 403 cows in milk, 194 other cows or heifers, and 40 other bovine animals. Forty- four of these animals were found to be suffering from tuberculosis, of which 13 were tuberculosis of the udder, 20 were tuberculous emaciation, and 11 other forms of tuberculous disease. In nearly every case the disease had reached an advanced stage. £135 was paid to the owners as compensation and £31 4s. was the nett sum received as salvage in respect of these animals. No applications have been received for licences for the sale of milk under special designations as classified in the Milk (Special Designations) Order, 1925. Bacteriological examination of milk is not made except in special cases under the Tuberculosis Order of 1925. No cases of food poisoning have occurred in the Island during the period under review. SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACTS. The particulars of the 138 samples examined by the Public Analyst during 1925 are shown in Table V. One hundred and twenty-two of these samples were of milk and 11 of these were found to be under the minimum standard laid down by the Board of Agriculture. In the remaining in samples the average percentage of milk fat was 3.91 and of non-fatty solids 8.94, i.e., a total of 12.85 Per cent, of solids. The Board of Agriculture’s minimum requirements are 3 per cent, milk fat and 8.5 of non-fatty solids, i.e., a total of 11.5 per cent, of solids so these in milks were 11.2 per cent, above the minimum requirements. Of the n samples below the minimum standard 1 was decomposed before analysis and 3 were second samples of the same milk so, excluding these, there were actually 7 samples falling under the minimum standard out of 118 examined, i.e., 5.9 per cent. Excluding the cases in which legal proceedings were taken the average contents of the milks examined by the Public Analyst in previous years were as follows :— Milk fat. Non-fatty solids. Total. No. of samples examined. 1912 3.62 8.85 12.47 37 1915 3.86 8.84 12.70 62 1920 3.96 9.0 12.96 73 1925 .3-91 8.94 _ 12.85 hi In all the cases in which dirty debris is found the distributors are warned and second samples are taken later on and it is our experience in nearly every instance that these second samples are clean showing that clean milk can be produced and delivered when proper care is taken. Table V.—Showing the Number of Samples from each Area submitted to the Public Analyst for Analysis during the Year ending 31ST December, 1925. Parish. New Milk. Other Samples. Total. Remarks. Ashey 2 — 2 Bembridge 1 (id) — I Brading I — I Binstead 2 (id) — 2 Carisbrooke 3 I 4 Chale 1 I 2 Cowes 11 (4d) (ia) 2 13 Selling new milk deficient in fat. Fined £1 and 14s. costs East Cowes 5 (3d) — 5 ■Freshwater ... 7 (id) (2a) I 8 ■Selling new milk deficient in fat. Both cases dismissed Godshill 1 — 1 Newchurch 1 — 1 Newport 18 (7d) (3a) 2 20 Selling new milk deficient in fat. 1 fined £2 and 15s. costs. 2 cases dismissed Niton 2 — 2 Northwood 2 — 2 Ryde 27 (7d) 7 34 St. Helens 3 (id) (ia) 3 Selling new milk deficient in fat. . Case dismissed Sandown 7 (id) — 7 Shanklin 10 (3d) (2a) 1 11 ■Selling new milk deficient in fat. Fined £1 and 14s. 6d. costs in both cases Shorwell 1 . 1 Totland 1 1 2 Ventnor 10 (id) (2a) — 10 ■Selling new milk deficient in fat. Fined £110s. and 14s. 6d. in both cases Whippingham ... 2 (id) — 2 Wroxall 2 (id) 2 Yarmouth 2 — 2 122 (32d) (11a) 16 138 (a) Adulterated. (d) Dirty. * Both samples were obtained from the same Vendor.