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57
Of the two prosecutions for selling adulterated milk, one
defendant was a retailer, and the other a farmer and wholesale
dealer, the sample being taken in course of delivery. The number
of prosecutions for selling adulterated milk is considerably below
the average, there being as many as eleven during the preceding
year.
During the year eleven samples of cream were submitted for
analysis. Of these, eight contained boric acid in varying amounts,
three only having no preservative present. One sample which
contained an excessive amount of boric acid (51.8 grains per lb.) was
the cause of a successful prosecution.
Seven informal samples of Rice were taken during the year
of which five were found to be adulterated by facing with small
amounts of additional mineral matter varying from 005 per cent,
to 10 per cent. Further attention will be given to this question
during this year (1910).
One hundred and twenty-six informal, or test samples of Butter
were purchased, of which nine proved to be not genuine. Subsequent
official samples were taken in the adulterated instances,
when in two cases the fraud was repeated, and prosecutions
followed.
In one instance a dairyman was proved to have been carrying
on an extensive fraudulent business, and although it was the first
time he had been charged the Magistrate remarked that it was a
case of wholesale fraud, and inflicted the full penalty of £20. It
was only by the Inspector employing as his agent one of the man's
regular customers that the defendant was brought to justice.
Thirty-eight informal samples were also taken of various
articles. They were certified to be genuine with the exception of
one sample of coffee.
The test samples were mostly purchased by a woman in small
quantities with other articles, generally during the busy periods in
the evenings.