Public health reformers and activists of the late 19th century put milk at the top of their agenda, and the safety of the milk supply became a matter of regular public concern, discussed in newspapers, medical journals, public health circles, and the legal system. As early as 1906, about three decades before this poster appeared, the Chief of the Division of Foods at the Bureau of Chemistry declared that "the most serious problem connected with food control is the regulation of the milk supply." Urban areas were the first to act, but by 1920, milk regulations had reached every part of the country, with regulations beginning to appear in state statutes. By 1939, the US Public Health Service had drafted the Model Milk Health Ordinance. The regulation of raw milk sales in the first half of the 20th century proved to be a major public health success in this country. In 1938, milk-borne outbreaks constituted approximately 25 percent of all disease outbreaks from contaminated food and water. As of 2002, that figure was down to about 1 percent. No artist credited, dated July 20, 1940.