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807
[1910
substituted. In 27 instances, or 75 per cent. of the purchases, a declaration was
made that the article was a dyed or other sugar.
Compared with the preceding years, these figures show a marked improvement,
for in 1908 the percentage of sugars sold with a declaration was only
20.0, and in 1909, 52.3. as against 75.0 last year. Again in 1908 24.0 per cent.
were adulterated, and in 1909 31.5 per cent., as against 8.3 per cent. last year.
Such results as these prove conclusively that much good has been effected by
the informal sampling performed by the Inspector.
Coffee.—The Inspector continued to sample this article, with the result
that out of 92 samples he could only find that 5, or 5.4 per cent., were
adulterated. In 46 instances, or 50 per cent. of the sales, an oral or printed
declaration (generally the latter) was made, while in 41 instances the article
was pure coffee. How different these figures are to those that obtained in
1908, or even in 1909, for in the former year 19.4 per cent. were adulterated,
and in 1909, 15.9 per cent. In two years, therefore, the percentage of
adulteration has fallen from 19.4 to 5.4.
Malt Vinegar.—During the year the Inspector made a new departure by
turning his attention to this commodity, with the result that out of 32 purchases
he found 10, or 31.2 per cent., spurious articles. Fourteen of the vinegars were
found to be genuine, and 8 were sold with a declaration that they were not malt
vinegars.
These returns respecting informal sampling must be very gratifying to the
Council, for in the case of each food it has resulted in a marked decrease in the
percentage of adulteration on the previous returns, and shows what really good
work has been accomplished by Inspector Burrell, to whom great credit is due
for the painstaking manner in which he has devoted himself to his work, for
which he has by patient study qualified himself. His operations have of course
leaked out, for the certainty with which he came down on wrong-doers has
become a matter of talk among a certain class of traders.
It has been shown that of the 633 samples tested, 73 were adulterated.
Now of these 73 samples, 50 duplicate samples were purchased and submitted
to your Public Analyst, who reported against 43 for prosecution, which resulted
in ,£78 11s. 6d. being awarded in fines and costs to the Council. Thus it is
seen that 86 per cent. of the persons fraudulently selling adulterated articles
were punished, not, however, always to the extent of their offences. The
Inspector finds it more and more difficult to obtain adulterated samples, and,
indeed, has found it necessary to make his agent a regular customer at the shop