View report page

* During the year information was received respecting a considerable amount of Tomato
Puree reported to be in London at that time. It was stated that the commodity contained a fair
amount of tin and copper which in several cases had caused enteritis. Information was received
that a sample examined in another London Borough was found to contain as much as 5.2 grains
per pound tin and 0 25 grains per pound copper. Enquiries were made by the Inspectors to
ascertain if any of the puree indicated was on sale in Holborn. Supplies of the brand concerned
were found to be stocked by several Holborn retailers. Seven samples were procured for chemical
analysis. All were reported by the Borough Analyst to contain both tin and copper in varying
quantities.
Arrangements were made with the retailers for the sale of the commodity to be suspended
pending further investigation.
The names and addresses of the wholesalers and/or importers were obtained and letters were
addressed to them on the subject.
As a result of the enquiries made it transpired that the whole of the consignment in the
various Holborn shops came through the same importing company. This Company had arranged
for a conference between their Analyst and the Medical Officer of Health of the district of
importation and agreed to a temporary informal embargo on the sale of the goods in Holborn. As
a result of the conference arrangements were made for the whole consignment to be returned
to the importers and withdrawn from the British Market.
Notes of the Borough Analyst on Samples Examined During the Year 1934.
During the year 1934, 600 samples were submitted to me for analysis in
accordance with the provisions of the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928,
581 having been purchased with the required formalities and 19 obtained
informally.
Of this total, 17 (2.83 per cent.) proved to be adulterated, ten being samples
submitted formally and seven informally. In the previous year 1.16 per cent. of
the samples were certified to be " not genuine."
The adulterated articles consisted of milk, margarine, pepper, sausages and
tomato puree.
Milk.—Two hundred and twenty-four samples of milk were analysed, and six
of these (2.5 per cent.) fell below the limits required by the Board of Agriculture
Regulations—3.0 per cent, of fat and 8.50 per cent. of non-fatty solids—and were
certified to be adulterated accordingly. One sample had been diluted with water
to the extent of at least 8.2 per cent., and from the five others fat had been
abstracted to the extent of from 4.6 to 35.0 per cent. respectively.
It may be of interest to insert here two tables prepared by the Public Health
Department from the returns of the Borough Analyst showing (1) the Fat Content
of the 224 samples of milk, indicating their places of origin, and (2) the Monthly
Variation in the Chemical Composition:—