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expressly allow the importation of an article, the sale of which
after importation would be an offence against the Acts
permitting its importation.
Against these quotations, which are a part of English
law, we have certain recommendations of a Departmental
Committee which may be summarised as: Total prohibition
of formalin or formaldehyde, total prohibition of all preservatives
in milk, restriction of the amount of salicylic acid that
may be employed, restriction of boric acid in cream to 0.25
per cent, and in butter and margarine to 0.5 per cent.
This Committee was appointed on July 10th, 1899, and
took evidence at intervals until May 14th, 1900, its report with
recommendations being issued in 1901.
We are now in 1904 and no action or attempted action
has been taken to make the recommendations of the Committee
or any of them law.
Under existing legislation the Board of Agriculture has
power under the Act of 1899 to restrict, if not prohibit, the
amount and nature of preservative that may be added to milk,
cream, cheese and butter, but again nothing has been done.
This state of inertia on the part of the legislature and
the Board of Agriculture places local authorities in great
difficulty as they do not know what powers the law gives them
to prevent the addition of excessive amounts of preservatives
to various articles of food.
The steps taken by the Borough of Camberwell to
endeavour to get some settlement of this vexed question are of
very great importance.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
FRANK L. TEED,
Public Analyst.