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Unsound Food.
The following articles were brought to the notice of the Department, found to be unfit
for human food, and destroyed as trade refuse : —
7 tons 15 cwt. 56 lbs. bananas
15½ pigs' livers
1½ crates „
27¼ cwt. eggs
81 lbs. rabbits
3 cwt. 8 lbs. pears
80 lbs. currants
1 cwt. soles
2 trunks soles
92 lbs. cherries
1 cwt. sprats
6 cwt. 14 lbs. tomatoes
3¼ cwt. various fish
12 half sieves „
3¾ cwt. haddock
4½ cwt. plums
1½ cwt. mackerel
26 half sieves plums
3½ cwt. skate
344 half sieves black currants
1¼ cwt. periwinkles
276 „ red „
2 cwt. 14 lbs. catfish
½ ton onions
6 cwt. apples
1½ cwt. roker
4 ton 7 cwt. 42 lbs. dried plums
28 lbs. herrings
3 cwt. plaice.
4 ton 8 cwt. 76 lbs. various tinned foods
Coffee Berries.
The following is the report of the Chief Inspector to the Public Health Committee
regarding the seizure of coffee berries which he made at Globe Wharf: —
"On the 18th January, accompanied by the Medical Officer of Health, I went to
Upper Globe Wharf, 199, Rotherhithe Street, occupied by the Desiccated Grains
Company, and found a large quantity of raw coffee berries on the wharf, some in the
process of drying and the remainder waiting to be dried, as well as a quantity in two
barges, altogether about 66 tons. We also visited Fisher's Wharf, Rotherhithe Street,
and found 6 tons in the same condition and going through the same process. The
berries were damp, slimy, nearly all of them black, smelling strongly of sewage water,
in a state of fermentation, some partially decomposed, and in our opinion quite unfit
for the food of man. I seized them and requested the presiding magistrate at the
Southwark Police Court to visit the wharves as the bulk was too great to be removed
to the Court. After viewing the same he said he would give his decision the following
morning, when he expressed his opinion that the coffee was unfit for the food of man;
but on the application of the owner's solicitors the case was adjourned until the 24th
inst., as they had given a bond to the Customs for a very large amount that the coffee
when dried should be returned to the Customs, and if an Order was granted they were
afraid they would not be able to fulfil their bond by returning the coffee.
"On the 19th we went to Dudin's Wharf in Shad Thames and found 10 tons in
the same condition, part of it being dried. We also went to Messrs. Gardiner & Tidy's
at Farrand's Wharf, Bermondsey Wall, and found 8 tons in the same condition,
evidently the whole of the same cargo. I seized the whole and got the magistrate to
view the same, but he adjourned his decision until the 24th so as take the whole
together.
"On the 20th we again visited Upper Globe Wharf and found that 29 tons of
coffee had been delivered and part was being dried. In our opinion this was also quite
unfit for the food of man, and the same afternoon the presiding magistrate, after
viewing the same, made an Order for its destruction. I served a copy of the Order on
His Majesty's Customs and also on the owner of the wharf as the coffee was in bond.
"On the 24th inst. Mr. Chapman gave his decision in the case of 90 tons; but at
the request of the court, we did not proceed with the destruction of the 29 tons, as the
owners intended to apply to Mr.Rose to prevent his Order being executed. Evidence
was given by the Medical Officer of Health, the Public Analyst, Dr. Eyre, the
Bacteriologist of Guy's Hospital, who also made a complete bacteriological examination,
and myself. The owners of the coffee were represented by counsel, and produced a
number of analytical chemists, doctors and coffee experts to prove that when roasted
the coffee was made innocuous. The magistrate refused the application, holding that
the coffee (although rightly seized, as in its then condition it was unfit for the food of
man) was in course of preparation, and when that preparation was complete the coffee
berries would be harmless.
"On the 27th inst., application was made for the magistrate to rescind his Order
as to the 29 tons, but he refused to do so. The coffee is still in charge of His Majesty's
Customs."
This was the most important food seizure during the year under report, since it concerned
part of a large consignment of coffee which was damaged, owing to the sinking of the s.s. "Caravellas"
in the Thames, near Gravesend. It had been submerged by at least two tides, and
after this thorough soaking it remained in the hold some two or three weeks, where it underwent
fermentation and presented a most unsightly mass. During the adjournment, after the first
proceedings were taken the owners of the property occupied their time in collecting evidence that
the coffee was wholesome, and obtained the services of several chemists and one doctor. There
was no doubt that when roasted it had the smell of coffee, and produced a beverage having some
resemblance to that article, but it had not the genuine taste, and it was entirely a stretch of
imagination to describe it as wholesome.