London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1918
Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1918
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51
INSPECTION OF FOOD AND FOOD-PLACES.
Sale of Food and Drugs Acts.
750 samples have been taken under these Acts, and 685 of these proved to be genuine and 65, or 8.7 per cent., adulterated. The details are given in the following table:—
| Articles of food of which samples have been taken. | Total number samples. | Genuine. | Adulterated. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brawn | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Butter | 52 | 51 | 1 |
| Cocoa | 52 | 52 | — |
| Cocoa Butter | 1 | 1 | — |
| Corned Beef | 7 | 7 | — |
| Dripping | 14 | 13 | 1 |
| Fish Paste | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Flour, Self-Raising | 66 | 65 | 1 |
| Galantine | 1 | — | 1 |
| Jam | 5 | 5 | — |
| Lard | 2 | 2 | — |
| Margarine | 8 | 8 | — |
| Milk | 448 | 398 | 50 |
| ,, Condensed | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| ,, Evaporated | 4 | 4 | — |
| „ Manufactured | 1 | — | 1 |
| Mustard | 18 | 17 | 1 |
| Oatmeal | 3 | 3 | — |
| Ox Tongue | 1 | 1 | — |
| Pepper | 24 | 24 | — |
| Salad Oil | 3 | 3 | — |
| Sausages | 9 | 7 | 2 |
| Tablets, Aspirin | 1 | 1 | — |
| „ Formalin | 2 | — | 2 |
| „ Indigestion | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Veal Loaf | 1 | 1 | — |
| Vinegar | 9 | 9 | — |
| Total | 750 | 685 | 65 |
The 750 include 3 informal samples of bntter, 1 of milk, and 1 of SelfRaising
Flour.
Prosecutions were undertaken in respect of 46 of the 65 formal samples
which were reported as being adulterated. These are set out in tho following
table