Quality Milk from Healthy Cows – (PIP #77)

By Louise Peloquin

     Third and last in a series on milk and milkmen, this article highlights Lowell’s concern about food quality, hygiene and livestock well-being.

The Hood’s ad, published three days after the news story below, was strategically timed. (1) 

L’Étoile – December 9, 1924

“PITILESS PUBLICITY” 

FOR LOCAL MILKMEN

Every three months the Bureau of Hygiene will publish the exact content of the milk sold by each of the city’s milkmen as an incentive to offering a higher-quality product.

     From now on, milkmen will no longer be able to satisfy customers simply by meeting Bureau of Hygiene requirements and State laws concerning milk quality.

     At the beginning of the new year, the Bureau of Hygiene will publish, every three months, the exact content of the milk sold by each milkman in the city. The Bureau took this decision yesterday.

     Dr. Francis R. Mahoney stated: “This will put every milkman in the city on guard. This will increase competitiveness and will increase the quality of the milk sold here.”

     Indeed, the new way of doing things means that the public, rather than the milk inspector, will be the judge. Customers will read the published figures and will do business with the milkman who offers the best milk.

     These regulations will make the dairy farmers react insomuch as the milkmen will do business only with the farmers who carry the best milk. They will also have to be careful about maintaining their reputation among the milkmen.

     Inspector Melvin Master will check the milk daily and will publish the results in a booklet to be published quarterly. It is not a matter of restricting the enforcement of the regulations regarding milkmen. The new system simply aims at creating competitiveness among the milkmen in order to offer Lowell better milk.

     Mr. Master presented the new State rule to the Bureau of Hygiene yesterday. It is a question of defining and describing the labelling for “quality-A milk.” Special permits will be granted to milkmen selling special quality milk. The milk must not be over 48 hours old. It must be pasteurised by heating for more than 30 minutes at a temperature between 140 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit, then cooled and kept at a temperature of at least 50 degrees or less until its delivery. The milkmen granted these permits will be required to prove that their milk comes from healthy cows kept in hygienic stables. The udders are to be clean and handled by clean dry hands or by sanitary machines if these are used. The milk must be removed from the stable immediately and cooled to a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

     The Bureau of Hygiene approved the invoices for a monthly amount of $2,571.98.

     After the first eleven months of 1924, an inspection of the finances showed that the department will need an additional $5,000 to finish the year. The largest part of that required sum will go to the Hospital for Tuberculosis Patients. Agent Francis J. O’Hare informed the commission that Dr. Forster H. Smith sent letters to both the mayor and the Bureau of Hygiene. It was decided to wait for the mayor’s response to the need for additional funds. (2) 

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1. PIP #76, posted on July 29, 2025:   https://richardhowe.com/2025/07/29/hoods-milk/
2. Translation by Louise Peloquin.