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Owing to the large consumption of canned foods
nowadays, particular attention is paid to the risk of
metallic contamination, but it is not only food in cans
which may become contaminated by metals. Almost any
manufactured food may come into contact with metals at
some stage of processing - e.g. during grinding (as in
the case of spices and similar products), mixing, boiling
or moulding, the last particularly in the case of the
popular ice lolly. Atmospheric dust may also contain
appreciable amounts of lead and other metals, and
protection from such dust during manufacture should be an
important factor in food hygiene. All samples of canned
foods and very many others are examined for metallic
contamination, but during the year under review none were
found to contain metals in excess of the recommended
limits.
There is still some controversy about the allowable
meat content of sausages. No standard has existed since
the repeal of the Meat Products Order, but it may be
argued that a peace-time sausage should at least be not
inferior in composition to a war-time one. Sausages on
sale in the Borough are regularly sampled and analysed,
and attention is drawn to any case where the meat content
falls significantly below the old standards of 65 per
cent, for pork and 50 per cent for beef sausages. Many
of the better quality sausages have been found to have
meat contents notably higher than these figures.
The composition of ice cream is controlled by the
Ice Cream Order of 1953, but during 1959 a new category
known as Dairy Ice Cream, was introduced. The fat of
this product must be exclusively milk fat, and a number
of samples sold under this description have been examined,
all of which complied with the Regulations, and most of
which contained milk fat considerably in excess of the
legal minimum of 5 per cent. This is gratifying in view
of the increased consumption of ice cream and its value
as a food.