London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Shoreditch 1881

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch, Parish of St. Leonard]

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the property will be sold, or so far so as to admit of an accurate
statement of the total cost to be made, and by which it is confidently
expected that the result will show an actual profit to the Parish in
respect to increased rating over and above the annual payments to
be made, but of course the whole of the increased income from the
rates will not be applicable for this purpose.
Another statement supplied by the Accountant to the Metropolitan
Board shows the interest allowed the Vestry by the bank
on balances in hand, and charged as adverse balances. From
August, 1877, to June, 1881, the interest allowed on the occasional
balances was £510 0s. 7d., and from July, 1876, to the 20th of
September, the charges by the Board, at the rate of £3 15s. per
cent., amounted to £563 4s. 7d., leaving a balance against the
Vestry on the interest account of £53 4s. Od.
SALE OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT.
The appendix shows the result of the application of this Act
during the past year. It may be remarked that adulteration of
a character to bring it within the scope of the Act is confined
almost to four articles—milk, butter, bread and alcoholic liquors,
practically to the former two; occasionally a conviction is obtained
in respeot to mustard, jams and drugs, but only seldom, as is shown
by the reports of prosecutions in other localities, and by the reports
of the Local Government Board. The adulteration of butter is
mostly by the admixture of an article of American manufacture
known as Oleomargarine, a preparation from animal fat, sent mostly
to Holland and mixed with Dutch butter, and then sent to this
country as genuine Dutch. The chemists do not regard this
substance as injurious to the consumer, but the danger is that
owing to the keenness of competition the adulterating ingredient
may be adulterated, and so that pure Bosch may not be obtainable.
To the present, however, no such case has been reported in this
Parish. Milk adulteration partakes mainly of the form of added
water or abstracted cream; no instance of the admixture of