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
St Pancras 1916
Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1916
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49
INSPECTION OF FOOD AND FOOD-PLACES.
Sale of Food and Drtjgs Acts.
750 samples have been taken under those Acts, and 684 of these proved to be genuine and 66, or 8'8 per cent., adulterated. The details are given in the following table:—
| Articles of food of which samples have been taken. | Total number samples. | Genuine. | Adulterated. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrowroot | 3 | 3 | — |
| Baking Powder | 21 | 12 | 9 |
| Brawn | 2 | — | |
| Butter | 198 | 20 | |
| Camphorated Oil | 6 | 6 | — |
| Cocoa | 21 | 20 | 1 |
| Cod Liver Oil | 5 | 5 | — |
| Coffee | 31 | 30 | 1 |
| Cream | 3 | 3 | — |
| Egg Powder | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Fish Paste | 3 | — | |
| Flour, Self Raising | 10 | 10 | — |
| Jam | 4 | 4 | — |
| Lard | 23 | 23 | — |
| Milk | 366 | 336 | 30 |
| Mustard | 19 | 19 | — |
| Olive Oil | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Oatmeal | 1 | 1 | — |
| Pepper | 19 | 19 | — |
| Sausages (Garlic) | 1 | 1 | — |
| Flowers of Sulphur | 1 | 1 | — |
| Total | 750 | 684 | 66 |
Of the 750 samples 2 were informal samples of butter which were found to
be adulterated.
Prosecutions were undertaken in respect of 28 of the 66 samples which were
reported as being adulterated. These are set out in the following table:—