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the strand district, london. 27
Inspection and Analysis of Food.
The street markets have been inspected every day (including
Sundays) and the following list shows the kind and quantity of
the food-stuff which has been condemned during the year :—
Apples 15 bushels Plums 270½ bushels
Bananas 909 crates Raspberries 7 cwt.
Cherries 21½ bushels Strawberries 10 boxes
Currants, Black 96 „
Currants, Red 6 „ Cabbages 96
Damsons 20 ,, Onions 18 bags
Figs 12 boxes Potatoes 32 cwt.
Grapes 7 birrels Tomatoes 494 boxes
Greengages. 11 boxes „ Preserved 10 lbs.
Oranges 126 cases
Pineapples 496 Pork 1 head
This does not represent all the damaged food-stuffs disposed of
by your Board, as much refuse fruit and vegetables are collected
in Covent Garden Market in the special carts provided for the
purpose.
The extreme heat experienced during the month of July, led
to considerable difficulty in the fruit trade. It was almost
impossible to get such fruit as raspberries to London without some
degree of fermentation being set up, and this led to a great deal of
extra work being thrown upon the officers of the Health Department,
to decide whether the fruit was fit for food. Where the fruit was
sound when picked, a slight degree of fermentation in no way
interferes with its value as a food, and although a peculiar frothy
appearance (which may mislead inexperienced persons into the
belief that the food is rotten) is produced by the process, yet the
products are entirely innocuous, and are at once dissipated on
the application of a slight amount of heat. Such fruit is of
course, not suitable for dessert purposes, but is quite good and
wholesome for stewing, preserving, or for use in tarts or pastry.
The head of Pickled Pork, mentioned in the above list, was
sold without proper care having been taken by the salesman
to examine it in the maimer usual among butchers as instructed