London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hampstead 1923
Report for the year 1923 of the Medical Officer of Health
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The following table shows the articles of which samples were taken during the year:—
| Articles. | Number taken. | Adulterated, etc. |
|---|---|---|
| Baking Powder | 4 | – |
| Butter | 44 | – |
| Cake | 5 | 1 |
| Cheese | 11 | – |
| Cocoa | 24 | – |
| Coffee | 15 | – |
| Cream | 39 | 1 |
| Dripping | 2 | – |
| Drugs | 29† | 7* |
| Flour | 10 | – |
| Honey | 2 | – |
| Jam | 7 | – |
| Lard | 24 | – |
| Margarine | 25 | – |
| Milk | 206 | 2 |
| Milk, Condensed | 6 | – |
| Mustard | 4 | – |
| Mince-meat | 4 | 1 |
| Meat-paste | 6 | 1 |
| Pepper | 7 | – |
| Rice | 6 | – |
| Sausages | 7 | 4 |
| Spice | 2 | – |
| Tapioca | 4 | – |
| Tea | 1 | – |
| Vinegar | 10 | 2 |
| Wine | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 505 | 20 |
Of these 29 samples, 24 were compounded drugs prescribed under the National
Health Insurance Act. The remaining 5 were not "prescription" cases.
These 7 samples reported above were so inaccurately compounded that it was
decided to institute proceedings. In the remaining 17 cases the degree of error varied
slightly from the quantities specified in the prescription.