HC Deb 01 April 1943 vol 388 cc330-1
37. Dr. Russell Thomas

asked the Minister of Health what standard of cleanliness is required in pasteurised milk?

Mr. E. Brown

Standards of cleanliness for pasteurised milks are prescribed in the Milk (Special Designations) Order, 1936. "Pasteurised" milk must contain not more than 100,000 bacteria per millilitre and "Tuberculin Tested Milk (Pasteurised)" not more than 30,000 bacteria per millilitre at any time after pasteurisation and before delivery to the consumer.

Dr. Thomas

Is my right hon. Friend sure that he is alive to the danger of pasteurisation as at present carried out covering up foul and filthy milk by falsely engendering the idea of safety behind this process? Is he aware too of a recent case, published by a reputable journal, in which a labourer's boot covered with dry manure was found in a receptacle containing this milk?

Mr. Brown

That does not arise out of this Question.

Mrs. Tate

Why is "T.T." milk ever pasteurised? Is not such an action quite inexcusable?

Sir Herbert Williams

What number of germs are there in one-thousandth part of a quart?

Dr. Thomas

Sometimes as many as 3,000,000.

Sir H. Williams

Then is not the population rather dense?