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Food and Drugs.
In Tables XIII. and XIV. of Appendix will be found a list of
the samples taken in 1913, and the action taken; 1,193 samples
were taken, compared with 1,175 in 1912 and 1,214 in 1911. Of
these 14.7 per cent. were found adulterated, compared with 8.1 per
cent. in the previous year and 11.4 per cent. in 1911.
The most notable feature of the analysis of samples of this
and recent years is the number of adulterations of milk which show
the addition of small percentages of water, ranging from 1.5 to
4.0 per cent. This is due to the present standard which requires
8 per cent, of fat and 8.5 per cent. of non-fatty solids. Magistrates
and others are liable to forget that this so-called "standard"
represents the lowest limit below which milk must not go. The
vast majority of natural milks show considerably higher figures,
and the result is that the samples are watered down so as to be as
near as possible this "standard" and the small percentages show
that they occasionally overstep the mark.
Sixteen per cent. is the amount of water allowed in butter,
and it is astonishing how closely manufacturers keep to this amount,
but occasionally they also overstep the mark, but even this small
percentage beyond the legal limit is very beneficial to the trader
if undetected, since he can make a very large profit out of 1 percent.
In the accompanying table will be seen the percentages of milk
fat in the various samples of milk.