HomeMy WebLinkAbout1968-07-311
Mr. Kula continued to interrupt and complain about the
regulations.
Dr. Cosgrove and Dr. Colburn said if there was no fur-
ther business then they moved the meeting be adjourned. Motion
seconded and passed.
Meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.
MEETING HEALTH DEPARTMENT & MILK DEALERS
my 31, 1968
A closed meeting of representatives of dairies and stores
showing a consistently high coli and bacteria count in milk and
cream over the past year was held in the Conference Room of Cary
Hall at 10:00 A.M. on July 31, 1968. Mr. R. L. McQuillan,
chairman, Dr. William Cosgrove,Dr. Charles Colburn, Robert
Heustis, Director of Public Health & Milk Inspector, and John
Condon, Laboratory Man, represented the Health Department. A
representative of each dairy or store notified of this meeting
was present. (Attendance sheet on file in Health Office.)
Mr. McQuillan opened the meeting by thanking the dealers
for coming and wxplained the reason for this closed meeting was
to see if a solution could be found to the cause of the con-
tinued high counts of coli and bacteria in the milk and cream
samples taken during the past year. He explained that never
before had the Board had so many dealers with such consistently
high counts in the dairy products, and he hoped from this meet-
ing a solution could be reached in the interest of all concerned.
He went on to explain that the Board of Health had a duty to
the people of Lexington, to assure that they get the cleanest
quality of products possible, but also the Board felt they had
a duty to the dealers to see if there wils anything that could
be done to make their job any easier. he went on to explain
the State had set the standards for the milk and when the
samples tested by our department is consistently high then this
Board is very much concerned. Mr. McQuillan then introduced
Mr. Heustis, the Milk Inspectore of Lexington.
Mr. Heustis introduced the Board and Mr. Condon, he then
went on to say that it was all to their interest in coming in
to see if they have any suggestions that would help us to learn
why we were getting these high counts so consistently.
In 1967 and 68 the milk counts from a number of dealers
were consistently high according to the standards outlined by
the Milk Regulartory Board. When we receive the report of the
milk counts from our laboratory we send a copy to the dealer,
if this is over the standard the Health Department located in
the Town of the Pastuerizing Plant is also notified.
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In some instances, after the dealers are notified, the
quality control people from the plant has called and told me
they have found something in checking the plant. At the retail
I have found milk stacked 2 to 3 rows highland in some cases,
the milk has been stacked in the isles for a period of time.
Milk stacked like that would get warm and it would take some
time to reduce the temperature of the milk. He also went on
to cite one case where the refrigerator door was tied open for
the convenience of the customer.
The quality control programs, in some instances, are not
so good as they could be. If the milk is only checked three
times a week it could be okay today and then you would hope it
will be okay.tomorrow. A good quality control program is
checking milk processed every day, in some instances every two
or three hours during the processing. Also coding of the prod-
uct is another thing, some companies use no code at all and
others have codes that are so indistinct they cannot be read.
If the product was coded and you received a report of a high
count it would be easy for you to trace back and possibly dis-
cover the cause.
Mr. McQuillan: Par. Condon would you explain what the coli
is and what can cause these high counts in both coli and plate
count in the milk and cream.
Mr. Condon: I'm sure these gentlemen here know as much
about the causes as I do, but, in my opinion, it is poor hand-
ling somewhere along the line. The Coli could be caused by
an operator not being careful, the equipment not being thour-
oughly washed and sanitized, even an operator in dirty cltthing
could contaminate the product or the equipment. The high plate
count can also be poor handling. The coli count is after
pasteurization and sometimes excessive condensation from the
equipment can drop into the milk, and again the coli can come
from improperly cleaned machines.
Mr. McQuillan: well then if the milk is okay when it
leaves the plant we can assume it is the handling after the
plant operation when we receive reports of high counts. Would
any of you Members of the Board of Health like to say anything
at this time.
Dr. Colburn: I would like to hear what our guests have
to say.
Mr. McQuillan: We would like to hear from you gentlemen.
We want to help out in any way we can, and we want you to help
us clear up this problem. Always over the years we may have had
one or two companies with high counts but they have been taken
care of right away. Never before have we had anything like this
that is why we have asked you to come in to see what you think
may be the cause.
Mr. Rose: You said you have found the milk in the stores
stacked 2 or 3 rows high or in some cases stacked in the isles,
in your opinion, is that the dealers responsibility or the
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store managers.
Mr. Heustis: The people who are licensed to deliver milk
in Lexington are responsible for that operation, the stores are
licensed to sell milk and they are responsible for this part
of the operation.
Mr. Rose: Then in your opinion, in a store operation it
is the store managers responsibility to see that the milk is
handled properly.
Mr. Heustis: The store manager is responsible but often
the company doing the bottling has to keep a check on their
methods of handling.
Mr. Rose: Would you be holding the dealer responsible
or holding the store responsible once it is established the
problem is in the store?
Mr. Heustis: I would keep checking
went on to say, better coding would help
manager could rotate the stock properly.
the coding is very confusing and in most
the store. He also
in the stores. A
At the present time
cases hard to identify.
Mr. McQuillan: Is this milk put under refrigeration as
soon as it is delivered to the store?
Mr. Rose: The drivers deliver the milk to the store but
they are Union men and the Union rules do not allow for them
to pack the milk before they leave the store. If the managers
are busy or it is a busy day in the store this milk can some-
times be left out for 3 or 4 hours before it is put under re-
frigeration and then it is hard to get the temperature of the
milk down again. Also on Thursday and Friday when they know
they will be busy they are apt to stock the refrigerators the
night before, this blocks circulation and the product will warm
up in the night.
Dr. Colburn: Say you were bottling milk for Purity-Sav-
Mor, I take that particular store because we do not have a
Purity in Lexington, and have a report that the milk in the
store was not up to standard. Would you, as the supplier, be
interested in what the product was like when it left the store?
I believe if the supplier has one main outlet he cannot hold
the store completely responsible because of the licenses.
Mr. Rose: I know of a number of towns and out of state
where the improper handling in the stores is causing problems.
in these cases the milk inspectors are working with us to
correct these problems. Quite often when we tell them to put
the milk so high, they do not pay any attention to us, but in
many instances when the milk inspectors have spoken to them
it has done the trick. I know there are not enough inspectors
to get into the stores as often as we would like, but we do
like you people to speak to them and it does seem to carry
more weight.
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Mr. Heustis- In the new Food Regulations put out by
George Michaels office, he orders milk and dairy products to
be kept at a 45 degree temperature or less. And a clearly
marked load line. Lexington has posted signs in all the mar-
kets in the refrigerators and freezing cases stating the load
line and that the products are not to be packed over the load
line. I have noticed an improvement in the packing of the
cases since this sign was put up. I don't know whether it is
because they know I will be inspecting every week or so, or
not. The store managers are cooperating very well.
I have put down "Review of Milk Regulations", the Board
of Health works along with the regulations of the Town and
the Milk Regulation Board, but maybe you gentlemen have some-
thing to say about them, are they practical?
Mr. McQuillan: I think one of the things that concerns
us greatly, is where the milk is taken from the trucks and the
counts are high. Even after the dealer is notified these counts
continue to be high and nothing is done to correct the problem.
Mr. Brox: One thing I have noticed is the milk inspector
thinking he will save the driver, will pick up a quart of milk
instead of the 2 gallons for testing. After these reports came
in I checked the two routes which come into Lexington, one
carries 16 quarts 16 quarts and the other carries 12 quarts,
the rest of his load is z gallons. With so few quarts on a
truck the driver leaves them uncovered and handy this would
make the quart samples warm up much faster than the z- gallons.
Quite often the new drivers are not concerned with keeping
the milk properly iced and covered where the drivers of the
old school you don't worry about.
Mr. Connors: I noticed a lot of high counts in the cream.
At one time we had a big volume of cream business in this area.
Now the cream business is almost nil. When we were doing our
own cream we very seldom found any coli in it. Now we have to
buy from the Farmer's Cooperative Market and we are at their
mercy.
Mr. McQuillan: Have you gentlemen any ideas
situation? In my mind when we keen getting these
and over and nothing is done about it, then there
for a Milk Inspector.
Mr. Heustis: I know you are all aiming for a
shelf life. Some companies are delivering twice a
three times a week, this could be a problem if the
cream is not properly coded or not legible for the
read it. We know of the trouble you have with dri
he is not rotating the stock on the truck properly
cause problems.
on this
counts over
is no reason
longer
week, others
milk and
drivers to
vers, but if
this could
Mr. McQuillan: I have looked over the counts for 1964,
65, and 66 and find nothing like we have had for this past year.
L7"
tr
044
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You men relate to the hot weather, to me that should not
matter, if the milk is properly handled. What would hap-
pen if we published these counts. They used to do that
in some towns years ago.
The Board said they did not think that would help.
Mr. Rose: I would like to get together with Mr. Con-
don, your laboratory man, and see if we can trace back
to see if we can find out where the trouble lays. I have
found, over the years, that by working with the Milk In-
spectors and Laboratory Men it is easier to find a solution.
Any other way is like coming in the back door.
Dr. Colburn: I think this problem can be solved by
working together. That is probably the fastest way to
handle this thing.
Mr. Founier: Mr. Heustis, when you pick up a sample
will you mark the next bottle or carton in the case so
that the driver can bring it back for our laboratory to
test. If these are marked with a crayon then we would be
sure the driver would not sell it. I have, as I turned
over to you, reports of our milk taken by the Mate the
same day you picked up, and there was nothing wrong with
them. They used to split samples but I don't think that
is necessary if the bottle next to the sample you take is
marked and we get it at our laboratory.
Mr. Heustis: I usually speak to the driver and tell
him to set a sample aside from the same case.
Mr. Brox: If these are marked, the driver will bring
them back to us, we are never sure if the driver brings us
the right sample or not.
Mr. McQuillan: Are you gentlemen satisfied that our
inspector is doing the right thing, could this be some-
thing on our end not being handled right.?
Mr. Connors: Do you test ice cream for plate count?
If the cream counts are high it would show up in the ice
cream.
Mr. Heustis: That is done by the State. We have
done ice cream scoops and they are high even when kept
in the running water. If you are doing your own bottling
are you running your cream first or last. One of the
dairies have had so little call for cream they have dis-
continued carrying it on the trucks except on special order.
Dr. Cosgrove: I would like to ask these gentlemen
under what regulations do you operate under? As you all
know about the court case we had here a few years back,
we took the dealer to court on our regulations but when
the appeal was heard the judge ruled in favor of the
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defendent on the basis of the Milk Regulatory Board Regulations
which we had never heard about.
Mr. Brox told about people out of state working for the
Milk Regulatory Board but did not answer the Doctor's question.
Mr. Connors said he would explain our court case only
by saying the defendent had a very smart and experienced law-
yer who had done a lot of work for the Milk Regulations Board
prior to our case.
None of the gentlemen answered Dr. Cosgrove's question as
to what regulations they worked under.
Mr. McQuillan: We will give these things another month
to see what happens. If you have any suggestions we will be
glad to hear them.
Mr. Connors: The high counts in the cream.
percentage to the milk in violations.
What is the
Mr. Heustis: Better than 60% of the violations are in the
cream.
Mr. Condon: The transferring ofsamples is always a prob-
lem. I am perfectly willing to run duplicate samples if you
want. When we transfer the samples from the milk inspector
to me it is almost the sane as when your driver takes his sample
back to the plant and then you must take it to your laboratory.
Mr. Heustis: Do you think the Milk Regulations need
changing?
Mr. Rose:
Mr. Leach:
they are trying
40 thousand was
plate count. I
I think they are workable.
We talk in regard to shelf life. Possible
to reduce counts too fast. A few years ago
acceptable, now they are asking for 5 thousand
doubt there was any more hazard at I.0 thousand.
Mr. Heustis: With the bulk tanks and rapid cooling they
feel this should work, but you feel they have been knocked down
too fast. With the bulk tanks maybe the milk isn't being kept
cold enough.
Mr. Leach: I agree that coding is important in todays
type of production.
Mr. Heustis: Where some dealers have come to 2 days de-
livery a week coding is important and I feel it should be clear
enough for the house wife to read.
Mr. McQuillan: Well if you gentlemen have nothing more
to say I am sure you will work this problem out. We will be
glad to help in any way we can and I am sure Mr. Heustis will
cooperate in any way he can, also Mr. Condon.
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