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X.-FOOD CONTROL.
PUBLIC HEALTH (IMPORTED FOOD) REGULATIONS, 1937.
FOOD AND DRUGS ACT, 1938.
Sixty-nine samples were taken during the year by the Senior
Inspector and Wharves Inspectors.
In February a sample of curry powder was taken which on
analysis was found to contain 44 parts per million of lead. Summonses
were taken out and the case was heard in April at Tower
Bridge Police Court. Evidence was given on behalf of the manufacturers
that it was impossible to obtain the ingredients of the curry
powder from the pre-war source of supply, and the manufacturer had
now to accept whatever he could get. The magistrate dismissed the
summons against the retailer accepting the defence of a warranty. So
far as the manufacturer was concerned the magistrate was satisfied
that the case against him under Section 3 of the Act had been proved,
that is to say, that the curry powder had been sold to the prejudice of
the purchaser. The magistrate, however, accepted the defence that
the presence of extraneous matter was an unavoidable consequence of
the process of collection (Sub-Section 4) and he therefore dismissed
the case without costs.
UNSOUND FOOD.
The general inspection of food in shops and on stalls forms part
of the duty of the District Sanitary Inspectors. Food, in the quantities
stated, came under the notice of the Inspectors during the year,
and being found unfit for human consumption was destroyed or disposed
of for animal feeding purposes.