§ 54. Lieut.-Colonel GAULTasked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that certain distributors are purchasing milk imported from the Continent in the form of ice blocks, he will state whether the source of supply is subjected to the same tests as the milk produced in England; and, if not, whether he is prepared to take the necessary steps to protect English farmers from this kind of competition?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe laws as to adulteration apply equally to liquid and frozen milk and to imported and home-produced milk, with the added safeguard in the case of imported milk that it is subject to sampling at the time of importation. The regulations also require that imported milk should be free from tubercle bacilli and should not contain more than 100,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre. I am advised that these conditions are at least the equivalent of those which apply to English milk.