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report also says that the voluntary marking by manufacturers will not be sufficiently rapid to bringabout the
necessary changes so that some form of legislation must be introduced, and recommends that foods should be
divided into various categories with different types of markings so that the manufacturer or packer should be
able further to decide which type he wishes to adopt, whether, for example, the mark should state the date of
packing, the date by which sale should be effected or the date by which the food should be eaten, bearing in
mind the desire to bring our food laws into line with international legislation generally. The final
recommendation is that food manufacturers should be invited to comment on the report and that the
Committee should then, with the Ministers' agreement, consider these and make a further report to the
Ministers - a recommendation which must be heartily supported, as there is often a feeling that after the issue
of a report, political influences are able to shape the final legislation. At the same time it has to be remembered
that the date marking of foods, especially perishable foods, is not the final solution. More information must be
given about storage conditions and care must be taken to see that these conditions are complied with before
sale, even if one cannot control those which the housewife will subsequently employ.
Antioxidants in Foods. The Food Additives and Contaminants Committee were asked to review theexisting
regulations and therefore requested comments by the end of August, but their report has not so far been
issued.
Colouring Matter in Foods. Proposals were made so as to bring British Food colours into line with those used
generally on the continent.
Emulsifiers and Stabilisers. The Food Additives and Contaminants Committee issued a further report and the
main point of interest is that it proposes a large number of specifications for various emulsifiers and stabilisers.
These specifications are generally good and to be recommended, but it must always be remembered that foods
imported from abroad may be made with ingredients, which do not comply with our specifications and that as
it is impossible to check on these, it may place the home manufacturer at a disadvantage.
Offals in Meat Products. The Food Standards Committee has issued a report on the use of offals in meat
products. This would extend the use of offal in meat products, but the recommendations are contradictory in
that in one place it is proposed that all offal should be described by its anatomical name and the proposal is
then qualified by suggesting that offal should be described either by its anatomical name or by the word
"offal". Naturally the manufacturer will use whichever word suits his purpose the better.
Preservatives in Food. The Food Additives and Contaminants Committee issued a report reviewing the
Preservatives in Food Regulations 1962, but your analyst finds it difficult to follow the reasoning in the report
and it is possible that much of the report would have been different if the members of the Committee had
studied the Final Report of Departmental Committee on the use of Preservatives and Colouring Matters in
Food issued by the Ministry of Health in 1924. Some of the new proposals are extremely practical as, for
example, the granting of permission to add preservatives to products such as fruit yoghurts, fruit ices, etc. If
preserved fruit may be used initially it seems only a matter of commonsense to allow the same quantity of
preservative in a final product containing unpreserved fruit as would be obtained from the use of preserved
fruit initially. The committee appear to have missed their way, however, when discussing tomato paste and
tomato puree. In par. 34 they suggest that fruit and fruit pulp and tomato paste and puree should be brought
into line. In par. 63(e) it is further recommended that tomato pulp, paste or puree should be allowed to contain
800 p.p.m. of benzoic acid as an alternative to para-hydroxybenzoates and in par. 121 that no preservatives
should be permitted in canned tomatoes. Tomato pulp, paste and puree are invariably canned and should be
kept refrigerated after opening so that is is difficult to see why they need any preservative. In this respect they
are entirely different from other fruit pulps, which are generally shipped unsterilised.
The Food Standards Committee Report on Vinegars. The report on vinegars is dated 1971, but was not issued
to the public until 1972. Whilst agreeing with most of the conclusions of the report one regrets the lack of
historical knowledge of the Committee. It is suggested that the earliest method of preparing vinegar was from
crab apples, whereas knowledge about vinegar goes back some 5,000 years or more to Egypt, a country which
is too hot for the growth of crab apples. Mention is also made of the legal history of vinegar, but there is no
mention of the fact that a blacking maker in the 1830’s required a vinegar manufacturer's licence because he
used wood v inegar in the only blacking sold at that time, a water blacking. It will be well, however, for vinegars
to be sold under their correct descriptions now that technology has improved and has made this possible and
most people will approve the suggestion that vinegars should be sold as malt vinegar, cider vinegar, wine
vinegar, spirit vinegar, grain vinegar or artificial vinegar. The only drawbacks are that it is suggested that malt
vinegar need not be made from more malt than is necessary to convert starch to sugar and some wine dealers
may be hurt because much of the real vin aigre, as vinegar was formerly known and from which the word
vinegar is derived, cannot be sold because it will have too little acetic acid in it, the fermentation having been
stopped by the combination of alcohol and acetic acid.
An interesting memorandum was issued by the Department of Health and Social Security on the processing
of large canned hams. The memorandum is useful and instructive, but it is a pity that when the Ministry of
Agriculture. Fisheries and Food has stopped the use of the word "ham" for shoulders another department
continues to use the word without qualification.
This Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen will be my last Annual Report and I would like to offer my thanks
to the Council and to the previous Councils of the Borough of Fulham for their trust and help during the forty
years it has been my privilege to serve them.
Thomas McLachlan.
Public Analyst.
B31