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The Public Health (Preservatives, etc., in Food) Regulations
1925 to 1927.
These Regulations came into operation on the 1st day of
January, 1927. So far as they relate to bacon, ham and egg yoke,
the Regulations operate as from the 1st day of July, 1927, and
with regard to butter and cream as from the 1st day of January
1928.
So far as the Regulations prohibit the manufacture for
sale, or sale of an article of food, containing any preservative
which is necessarily introduced by the use in its preparation, of
preserved margarine, preserved egg yoke, preserved bacon, preserved
ham, preserved cream or butter, they shall come into
operation on the following dates, viz.:—
(a) the 1st day of July, 1927, where the preservative has
been so introduced by the use of preserved margarine:
(b) the 1st day of January, 1928, where the preservative has
been so introduced by the use of preserved bacon, preserved ham,
preserved egg yoke, or preserved cream; and
(c) the 1st day of July, 1928, where the preservative has been
so introduced by the use of preserved butter.
Certain articles of food are set out in the first schedule which
may contain a permitted preservative, viz., sulphur dioxide or
benzoic acid, in the proportions specified against the name of the
article.
With the foregoing exceptions, all articles of food for human
consumption are required to be free from any added preservative.
Boric acid, formerly much in use as a preserving agent, is
prohibited.
The second schedule provides that certain articles of food,
viz., sausages, sausage meat, coffee extract, pickles and sauces
containing one or other of the permitted preservatives, and (where
the proportion of benzoic acid exceeds 600 parts per million)
grape juice and wine, shall be labelled with a declaration that they
contain a preservative, or, as an alternative, a notice shall be
exhibited in a conspicuous place so as to be easily readable by a
customer that the article contains a preservative.
In Part II of the first schedule, certain colouring matters are
specified which may not be added to articles of food.
During the year 771 samples, comprising 45 varieties of food,
were examined for the presence of a preservative. (These articles
are indicated by an asterisk against the samples in Table A.)
Preservative was found in 4 samples of sausages sold as unpreserved
sausages.
In one case the amount greatly exceeded the proportion of
the preservative allowed as specified in the Regulations.
With the exception of the above and three samples of cream
containing boric acid (which are dealt with under the Public