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The offences against the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, other
than adulteration, consisted in one case of an unlabelled bulk of
margarine exposed for sale and in six cases of margarine being sold
to the retail purchaser in an unstamped wrapper.
In twelve cases the Committee exercised their discretion and
ordered that no prosecution should ensue, but that a severe caution
be administered to the offenders. The cases were as follows:—
In a case of deficiency of butter fat in milk, the sample was
taken late in the afternoon from a very small quantity of milk,
after considerable dipping from the counter pan to previous
customers, the excuse put forward that by this means an undue
proportion of fat had been unwittingly abstracted being accepted.
In four cases of boric acid in milk, the amount fell below the
minimum allowable amount, as suggested by the Local Government
Board. In one case of excess of water in butter, above the legal
limit of 16 per cent., the excess was so small as not to warrant
proceedings. In the case of three butters, one milk, and one
coffee, notices were exposed by the vendors, stating that purity
was not guaranteed, which notice is apparently sufficient in law to
protect the vendor. In one case of poor milk the actual cow which
gave the milk was sampled in the presence of an inspector, and the
sample thus taken was found to be deficient in fat. The milk
which was given by the other cows belonging to the same owner
was, however, found to be much above the standard, and the
owner offering to dispose of the cow giving poor milk the
Committee decided not to prosecute.