British Food Journal Volume 11 Issue 8 1909

Abstract

Dr. EASTWOOD'S report to the Local Government Board on this subject is of special interest to the people of this country at the present time in view of the steps that are being taken with the object of checking the spread of tuberculosis, and the undoubted connections that exist between that and other diseases, and the sources and character of the milk supply. In this country little attention has hitherto been paid to the condition of cows or cowsheds, except perhaps in rare instances where the former were obviously diseased, or the latter constituted a public nuisance; while the connection between milk supply and disease has scarcely been recognised by the Legislature and by public authorities, and has been entirely ignored by the general public. For some years past the health authorities in the United States, as well as those of some other countries, have been making very serious efforts to eradicate tuberculosis from dairy herds, if that be possible. The way in which some of the various States and Cities of the Union are attempting to do this is of importance and interest to us for various reasons. Their problems are very much the same as ours. The success or failure of milk regulations in the United States may, therefore, be taken as an indication of the probable success or failure of ours. Such methods are, therefore, valuable as broadly suggesting those which we may usefully adopt or avoid. The United States also send us a large proportion of our oversea meat supply, and any question relating to the general health of dairy herds cannot be dissociated from one affecting the general health of animals that are slaughtered for their meat. It may also be remarked that such questions relate not only to the meat supply from the States, but also to the great cattle ranches of the Southern American continent, in which British and American capital is becoming increasingly employed. The Americans are nothing if not practical. They are almost proverbially unhampered by tradition. They are quick to adopt what may prove to be new remedies for old evils. While the independent control exercised by each State of the Union over its own internal affairs results in the attempted solution of any general problem being presented in almost as many forms.

Citation

(1909), "British Food Journal Volume 11 Issue 8 1909", British Food Journal, Vol. 11 No. 8, pp. 135-154. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb010974