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74
It would be more satisfactory if some authoritative pronouncement
were made with regard to the use of so-called
preservatives. In the present state of the law there is considerable
uncertainty as to the result of taking legal action and unless the
amount of the drug found to be present on analysis is more than 17 J
grains per lb. (i.e., 25 per cent.) it is not usually considered advisable
to risk taking the case into court. The consensus of medical opinion
is that the use of these preservatives is a danger to the public health.
Apart from the injurious effect of the drug itself, one of the most unsatisfactory
features of its use as a food preservative is that it enables
materials to beused in the manufacture of sausages, potted meats, &c.,
that are unfit for human consumption from incipient decomposition.
The use of this drug masks the effects of such early putrefaction
and does not prevent the ill-effects which may follow the ingestion
of such unsound food. As a proof of the needlessness of the use of
this drug in sausages, one of the principal firms in the sausage
trade in London does not use any preservative. Where the materials
used are sound and of good quality, and where regard is had to
scrupulous cleanliness, sausages made under these conditions will
keep for two or three days, even in warm weather, if reasonable
care is taken in storing them.
Coffee and Cocoa.
Twenty-five samples of coffee were taken and submitted for
analysis, of which one was reported to be adulterated, and fifteen
samples of cocoa were taken and similarly dealt with, all of which
were reported to be genuine.
Other Articles.
Arrowroot, 5 ; bread, 5 ; cheese, 10 ; cream, 9 (of which 5 were
adulterated to an extent varying from 11 to 18.5 grains per lb.) ;
fish (preserved), 4 ; flour, 4 ; jam, 4 ; lard, 16 (1 adulterated, vide
page 71) ; margarine, 13 ; meat (preserved), 8 (2 containing preservatives)
; mustard, 4 ; oatmeal, 6 ; olive oil, 5 ; pepper, 4 ;
rice, 4 ; vinegar, 5 (1 adulterated).
Gin, 3 ; rum, 4 ; whisky, 8 ; camphorated oil, 6 (one of which
was 83.39 per cent. deficient in camphor; proceedings taken,
defendant fined £2 and 12s. 6d. costs).
Cheese deficient in Fat.
The Council, on 24th December, 1909, in a letter addressed by
them to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, drew their attention
to the fact that Dutch cheese deficient in fat to a considerable
extent is sold in their district, but that, owing to the absence of an