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ginger, 2.6 per cent.; wine, 2.4 per cent.; flour, 2 per cent.; and
pepper, cheese, beer, and lard, with less than 1 per cent. of
adulteration.
Of the samples submitted to the analysts by private persons 46.5
per cent. were reported against, whilst of those obtained by the
officers of local authorities only 8.3 per cent. were condemned.
This circumstance is mainly due to the fact that in the case of those
samples submitted by private individuals some good ground for
suspecting the genuineness of the article existed in each case, but the
discrepancy in the figures is due in a minor degree to the fact that
the officers of a local authority are generally known and recognised
by the local tradesman, who not infrequently succeeds in circumventing
them.
THE SALE OF FOODS AND DRUGS ACT, 1899.
Section 2.—In "the general interests of the consumer" the Local
Government Board, and "in the general interest of agriculture"
the Board of Agriculture, may direct their officers to
take samples of "any article of food" and submit the same to
the local public analyst. The samples are to be divided into
four parts, three of which are to be disposed of in the usual way
and the fourth to be sent to the Board, which will forward the
results of the analysis to the local authority.
Section 3.—The appointment of public analysts and the enforcement
of the Acts are made compulsory by this section. Should
any authority make default in these matters and continue in
default after communication from the Local Government Board
or the Board of Agriculture, either Board may appoint one of
its officers to put the Acts into force and recover the expenses
from the defaulting authority.
Section 4 gives power to the Board of Agriculture to fix limits for
the composition of milk, condensed milk, cream, butter and
cheese, and directs public analysts to certify samples falling
below these limits as adulterated.
Section 5 requires that all compounds made in imitation of cheese
and which contain fat not derived from milk, shall be called
" Margarine-cheese," and marked, consigned, and sold under the