London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Westminster 1899
Annual report upon the public health and sanitary condition of the united Parishes of St. Margaret & St. John, Westminster for the year 1899.
This page requires JavaScript
37
nuisance. The Committee were of opinion that if the Bye-laws
made by the Vestry under the Public Health Act, 1891, relating
to the removal of manure or other offensive matter, were properly
administered, there need be no further provision on the subject.
In two cases legal proceedings were taken for the non-removal
of manure, and in each case the owners were fined.
Sale of Food and Dkugs Acts. During the year 123 samples of food, Ac., have been purchased for the purpose of analysis; 108 were certified as being genuine and 15 as being adulterated. The following is a table of the samples taken together with the fines and costs imposed in the cases where summary action was taken:—
| Articles Purchased. | No. of Samples. | Genuine. | Adulterated. | Result of summary proceedings. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fines. | Costs. | ||||||||
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | ||||
| Arrowi-oot | 9 | 9 | — | — | — | ||||
| Butter | 39 | 34 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Cocoa | 6 | 2 | 4 | No action. | |||||
| Coffee | 12 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 |
| Condensed milk | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | ||||
| Golden syrup | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 |
| Milk | 33 | 30 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Mustard | 3 | 3 | _ | _ | — | ||||
| Olive oil | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | ||||
| Sulphate of quiuiue | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | ||||
| Tea | 3 | 3 | — | —. | — | ||||
| Vinegar | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | ||||
| Whiskey | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | ||||
| Total | 123 | 108 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 6 |
Amongst the above samples taken was one of butter, which
was found to be adulterated with 90 per cent, of margarine,
two of cocoa adulterated with oxide of iron, and three of milk
adulterated with various quantities of water.
Several interesting cases of adulteration were decided by
the Metropolitan Magistrates during the year, one of which was
"Is salad oil a food or a drug?" In one case the prosecution
failed owing to the contention upon which the prosecution was
based, that it was a drug only. As pointed out by the British
Medical Journal, olive oil is a food as well as a drug. Another
contention was, What is golden syrup ? A recent article in