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62
quality beef, and that on the whole the demand for marked beef has been most noticeable
in the East End.
Members of the public desiring to purchase home killed beef of high quality can be
assured of obtaining it by asking for "National Mark" beef. Every carcase of "National
Mark "beef is graded and marked by experts appointed by the Government. There are
three grades: —
"GOOD" into which the greater part of the home-killed supplies of good average
quality beef naturally falls. Meat in this grade carries less fat than meat in the other
grades.
"SELECT" is from choice young animals. It is of exceptional tenderness, but
these specially fed young animals are costly to produce and are in comparatively small
supply. Hence beef of this grade cannot be cheap.
"PRIME" has most of the good qualities of the select grade, but is from slightly
older animals; the finest steak and stewing meat come from this class.
The outward and visible sign of this graded beef is the National Mark. This is in the
form of a ribbon stamp drawn down the side of the carcase, the colouring matter used being
vegetable and entirely harmless. The mark bears the grade name "Good," "Select" or
"Prime," the words "home killed" and a silhouette map of England and Wales. The
mark conveys a guarantee of origin and quality.
Food Standards.
It is very encouraging to those who are working for the purity and quality of food to
see the action which is being taken by Parliament to promote this end. Although in this
country we have not yet reached the level of the Dominions, there is reason to hope that this
matter is more and more engaging the attention of workers in Public Health in this country
and, even more important still, that part of the general public whose thoughts turn towards
the improvement of the Public Health. The path is devious and may appear insignificant.
For several years new attempts have been made to establish a standard of purity of ice
cream—a chemical standard has been formulated—within a reasonable time we
may expect the formulation of a bacteriological standard. Is it coo much to hope that this
may eventually lead to a bacteriological standard for ordinary milk?
For such reasons we must welcome the efforts; made in connection with vinegar in a Bill
introduced into the House of Commons in the Session 1928, the object of which was to
fix a standard of quality for vinegar. True vinegar is a brewed product prepared by the
alcoholic and subsequent acetous fermentation of barley or some other cereal, the starch of
which has been converted by malt. It is possible to produce more chcaply an imitation
prepared by diluting commercial acetic acid, staining and flavouring it to resemble the true
article. The Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act is designed to ensure that a customer shall
get what he pays for, but for want of a standard of quality, the purchaser may be supplied
with spurious vinegar unless he demands malt vinegar. The Bill proposed to establish a
standard of quality and to enforce labelling of imitation vinegar. Enactments standardising
vinegar are in force in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United
States of America.
The desire of the public to consume a natural product or at any rate to know when
they were offered an artificial product found expression in the Artificial Cream Act of 1928.
We, welcome the action taken jointly by a Committee of the Society of Public Analysts
and the Food Manufacturers' Federation to arrive at agreed standards and definitions for
jams, and note with satisfaction the conclusions reached. The agreement extends to
marmalade and fruit jellies. The general adoption of the agreement reached by these two
bodies would do much to meet the difficulties of local authorities in dealing with these
classes of food, where, on the one hand, competition has resulted in the production of a low
quality article so far as fruit content is concerned, and on the other hand public analysts
have had no standard by which they could judge the genuineness or otherwise of the jam
under examination,