View report page

128
"authorities of the County and City of London, so as to secure the purity of
"the milk sent from this County to London when delivered to the consumer."
The matter was referred to me, and by my advice the Bucks County Council
were informed that the suggested co-operation would be most valuable, and that
probably the most useful way of effecting this would be for the Bucks
Authority to:—
1. Advise the Corporation from time to time when they desire any
particular samples of milk taken under the provisions of the Food and
Drugs Act on delivery at the railway stations within the City, as this is
obviously the only way in which the farmer can be protected ; and
2. When any milk sampled in the City (coming from Bucks) is found
to be of an unsatisfactory character, for the Corporation to inform the
Bucks County Council in order that they may have the opportunity of
investigating the conditions under which it is produced.
The limits of the jurisdiction of the Corporation as the Sanitary Authority
for the City were pointed out, also that the London County Council are in no
way concerned with the administration of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts,
either in the City or the Metropolis, and that within the Metropolis, excepting
the City, these Acts are administered by the various Borough Councils.
EVASION OF THE MARGARINE ACT.
In July, 1904, I was informed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
that they had received information that a good deal of "butter" sold for distribution
was margarine put up in unbranded tins, the consumers being led to
believe they were eating butter. It was stated that this practice was seriously
prejudicing the English butter makers, as the substituted article was made on the
Continent. Some difficulty having been experienced in tracing the merchants
supplying the material, the assistance of the Corporation was invited.
Special enquiries in likely quarters were at once set on foot, and although
unsuccessful in actually finding any unbranded tins of the article in
question, the Inspector detailed for the supervision of tinned food in the City
secured manufacturers' samples of margarine packed in tins that were illegally
branded.
The law requires that every package containing margarine shall be durably
branded in letters of a prescribed size. In this case the lettering was slightly
under the Statutory limit; this was a comparatively minor point. Exception,
however, had to be taken to the character of the branding which was so
unstable that the lettering could be readily removed with a dampened cloth
without leaving the slightest trace of any marking. The tin was also not