London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Wandsworth 1896
Report on the health and sanitary condition of the several parishes comprised in the Wandsworth District during the year 1896
This page requires JavaScript
134
Report—Public Analyst.
And of these the following 17 were found to be more or less deficient in quality:—
| Articles submitted. | Nature and extant of Impurity. |
|---|---|
| Butter | 80 per cent, of Margarine. |
| Butter | 75 „ „ |
| Butter | 75 „ „ |
| Butter | 70 „ „ |
| Butter | 05 ,, ,, |
| Butter | 55 „ „ |
| Butter | 40 „ „ |
| Milk | 12 per cent, of added water. |
| Milk | 8 „ „ |
| Milk | 6 „ ,, |
| Milk | |
| Milk | 2„„ |
| Milk | 75 per cent, of cream deficient. |
| Milk | 37 „ „ |
| Milk | 10 „ „ |
| Milk | 10 „„ |
The above Table shows 5.96 per cent, of the
milk samples to have departed from the strict standard
of purity, as compared with 14.11 in the year 1895. The
extent of such departure is also less, the average being a
traction over 18 as compared with 24 in 1895. On the
other hand the sale of margarine as butter has slightly
increased, being 6'72 per cent, as against 4.65 in 1895.
During the year a difference of opinion as to the
existence of actual adulteration in one of the smaller
cases of milk occurred between the official chemists at
Somerset House and myself. Such disagreements are
unfortunately occasionally inevitable, because these
gentlemen are put by law in the difficult position of being
given a sample of decomposed milk and being expacted
to calculate accurately its composition when fresh as