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since we are unable to obtain records and other information on the aging of cheese of foreign origin. However, most of the types of cheese commonly imported, particularly from Italy, must necessarily be aged sufficiently to meet these requirements in order to develop the quality characteristics of these types of cheeses.

You have asked for specific information on the number of separate lots of cheese imported from Italy during the past 12 months, on the number of these lots inspected, and the results of the examinations made. We regret that we do not have complete statistics of this kind immediately available. However, you may obtain an idea of the volume of importations and type of coverage given from the following: According to the Bureau of the Census approximately 15,000,000 pounds of Italian cheese were imported during the calendar year 1951. We estimate that at least 1,600 different entries were involved. Each entry probably represents a composite of cheeses from a number of producers. During this period, the three offices which deal with the bulk of Italian cheese importations examined samples from 77 lots. Of the lots examined 12 were denied entry because of filth and one because of failure to conform with the requirements as to fat and/or moisture. These lots were not examined for evidence of pasteurization because they were of a type for which aging may be substituted for pasteurization, and possessed the characteristics of such aging.

The second paragraph of your letter asks specifically what procedures are employed to prevent the transmittal of hoof-and-mouth disease, anthrax, brucellosis, and tuberculosis through dairy products from Canada, South America, Europe, or other places from which we import dairy products and which have current or recurrent outbreaks of these diseases. It is pertinent to discuss each of these diseases and the possible role of dairy products in their transmission. As you know, hoof-and-mouth disease has been eradicated in this country and such restrictions as have been placed upon the importation of meat and meat products and animal byproducts by the Department of Agriculture have been successful in preventing the reintroduction of the disease into the United States. Although dairy products have been imported from several foreign sources over a period of years, there is no evidence that they have been responsible for entry of the virus of hoof-and-mouth disease into this country. It is known, of course, that the virus may be present in the milk of animals affected by this disease but the milk flow in the infected animals is markedly decreased and becomes abnormal in character so that there is comparatively little chance that milk from infected animals will be used in the manufacture of dairy products.

It is also known that anthrax bacilli may appear in the milk of infected cows shortly before death. Here again the milk flow is markedly reduced and the milk is highly abnormal in character. There is no evidence of the transmission of human anthrax through milk from infected animals. Anthrax in humans in the United States is comparatively rare and is largely confined to certain industries where workers handle infected wool, hair, hides and similar materials. These industrial cases constitute the great proportion of human anthrax, the remaining cases occurring largely in farm workers who are in direct contact with infected animals.

Both brucellosis and tuberculosis represent significant hazards to human populations where the disease exists in dairy cattle or other dairy animals. Outbreaks of both diseases have been shown to have resulted from consumption of raw milk and cream from infected animals. One of the organisms responsible for human brucellosis, Brucella abortus, is also the cause of contagious abortion in cattle. Contagious abortion of cattle is relatively common in the United States and the possible existence of viable Brucella in dairy products was a matter of real concern to this Administration. In preparation for hearings to develop standards of identity and quality for cheeses under the authority of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a study was made of the incidence of Brucella organisms in commercial cheese. This study indicated that about 10 percent of the domestic cheeses sampled in our survey had contained living Brucella organisms. This fact among others led to the requirements in the standards for cheese that such products be prepared from pasteurized milk or that they be cured or held for a minimum of 60 days before being marketed for human consumption. While no organized survey was made of the incidence of Brucella in imported cheese products, we have from time to time examined samples of goat cheese from Mexico, where brucellosis in goats is known to exist, without in any case finding Brucella organisms present. These studies also indicated that in the majority of cases, infected cheeses held for a period of 60 days no longer contained living Brucella although occasionally the organism survived for longer periods. A careful search of the literature and field investigations conducted to develop evidence of the

transmission of brucellosis by cured cheese products failed to reveal infections from this source.

With reference to tuberculosis, we have also conducted studies to determine the hazard from imported dairy products. Our concern was occasioned by the knowledge that while the tuberculosis eradication program in the United States had largely eliminated infected animals from dairy herds such progress had not been attained in many foreign areas. Therefore we initiated a program in 1938 to test imported dairy products from various foreign sources for tubercle bacilli. Samples of butter and cheese from several foreign countries were examined by animal inoculation techniques and in no sample could the organism be found. The negative results on imported butter are not surprising in view of the fact that cream for butter-making is necessarily pasteurized, to destroy spoilage organisms which otherwise would sharply limit the market or distribution life of the product, and since this pasteurization also destroys the pathogenic organisms. While raw milk for cheese manufacture may harbor tubercle bacilli, the long-curing process for most cheeses imported in the United States and the unfavorable environment for survival of tubercle bacilli makes the isolation of this organism unlikely.

There is no evidence that routine examination of dairy products for the virus of hoof and mouth disease or anthrax organisms would be a significant safeguard to public health since the possibility of finding the organisms in such products is extremely remote. The only effective procedure for the detection of the organisms of brucellosis and tuberculosis in dairy products is animal inoculation tests which, in the case of both diseases, require a period of 6 weeks to 8 weeks before results are available. The application of such test procedures to all imports of dairy products is therefore practically impossible as a routine procedure. In our opinion, the absence of proven or suspected cases of human brucellosis or tuberculosis from domestic or imported dairy products such as cheese and butter indicates that routine tests for the organisms of these diseases would not be a significant contribution to public health.

Summarizing the situation, there does not appear, under ordinary conditions of import traffic in dairy products, any material danger of these infections from this source. It should of course be borne in mind that the sanctions employed under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act are not designed as general quarantine or embargo measures to exclude products contaminated with disease-producing organisms. Enforcement procedures employed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act provide for the examination of samples from specific importations or interstate shipments. It is our understanding that the Department of Agriculture and the Public Health Service are empowered to set up quarantines for the specific purpose of excluding disease-producing organisms. We are suggesting that you might wish to consult the Department of Agriculture and the Public Health Service on this subject.

Sincerely yours,

C. W. CRAWFord, Commissioner of Food and Drugs.

TABLE 1.-United States exports of dairy products by countries of destination, 1939, 1949, 1950, and 1951 Dairy product export value by years

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TABLE 1.-United States exports of dairy products by countries of destination, 1939, 1949, 1950, and 1951 1—Dairy product export value by years—Continued

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TABLE 1.-United States exports of dairy products by countries of destination, 1939, 1949, 1950, and 1951 -Dairy product export value by years-Continued

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