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250
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
The Chart here inserted presents in a graphic form this variation
in average composition.

Butter.
Extent of the
adulteration
reported.
478 samples of butter were submitted during the year, of
which 35 samples were taken with the necessary
formalities, whilst 443 were submitted informally,
ine total number reported as adulterated, or not up to standard,
amounted to 77, or 16.1 per cent. The greatest percentage adulteration
occurred in the case of the formal samples, where it amounted
to 57.1 per cent., as against 12.8 per cent. for the informal samples.
The high percentage in the case of the formal samples, as
explained last year, is again due to the fact that formal samples
were taken in most instances only when informal sampling showed
that systematic adulteration was being practised. In the case of
the informal samples the percentage adulteration (12.8) has fallen
very considerably from that of the previous year (23.7 per cent.),
a result which appears to show that the systematic work
carried out in regard to this important article of diet has had a
salutary effect in checking adulteration.
Nature of the
adulteration
reported.
The nature of the adulteration reported showed that in 38
instances margarine was wholly substituted for
butter; in 14 instances mixtures of butter and
margarine in varying amounts were sold; and in 25 instances the
butter sold contained an excess of boron preservative.
Full details of these cases are given in Table D.
The presence of
preservatives.
All samples were examined for the presence of preservatives,
with the result that a boron preservative was
found in 411 (or 85.9 per cent.) of the samples