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Milk Inspection

April 6, 2013

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Profile America -- Saturday, April 6th. On this date in 1859, Massachusetts established the first state milk inspection program. An inspector of milk was appointed in August that year, operating from Boston, and whose primary efforts were to suppress so-called "swill milk," the poor, thin output of cows kept in unsanitary conditions and fed on distillery refuse. Every year, Americans consume an average of 22 gallons of milk per capita, and over 24 pounds of frozen dairy products. When "per capita" means about 310 million consumers, it means the output of the nation's nearly 1,600 dairy manufacturers ship over $91 billion worth of product annually. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 850
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 217
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/health_nutrition.html
2007 Economic Census, NAICS 311511
http://www.census.gov/econ/industry/hierarchy/i311511.htm