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53
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea.
Madam Mayor, Indies and Gentlemen,
During the year 1952, 400 samples of foods and drugs were examined
under the Food and Drugs Act. of these, 189 were taken formally and
211 informally.
The number of samples adulterated or incorrectly labelled was 19,
or 4.75 per cent, this figure being very similar to the one reported last
year. No samples of milk examined during the year were found to be
adulterated.

A sample of Ice Cream was reported as adulterated because it contained
only 2.6 per cent of fat. Although the Food Standards (Ice Cream)
(Amendment) Order,1952, specifies a minimum of 4 per cent fat, ice cream on
the average contains about 8 to 10 per cent. A sample of Cold Ice Cream
Mix was reported adulterated as the label included "minor ingredients and
these minor ingredients must be described.
Some Gruyere cheese was examined and found to contain excess alkali.
Under the Cheese Order emulsifying salts may be added to cheese in order to
process it, and in this case an excess of alkali had been employed with the
result that bacterial growth had commenced with the formation of gas. The
hydrogen ion concentration was between 7 and 7.5 whereas it should have been
in the neighbourhood of about 5-6. your analyst considered that this
cheese was unfit for sale, though it could not be said that the actual sample
submitted was unsafe for consumption.
A sample of Milk Soup Powder was examined and reported adulterated
as it was found to contain not more than 25 per cent of Full Cream Milk
Powder instead of 34 per cent as stated in the formula given on the label.
A sample of canned meat was described as Ham Loaf instead of Pork Loaf
No attempt had been made to cure the meat before canning. Some Pork
Sausages were found to contain only 62 per cent of meat and were, therefore,
4 per cent deficient in meat calculated as pork sausages.
A sample of Tomato Puree contained only 8 per cent of total solid
matter and your analyst is of the opinion that this sample was not tomato
puree but tomato pulp. Tomato puree consists of concentrated tomato pulp
and does not include unconcentrated pulp. Another sample of tomato puree
was reported as inferior because the manufacturers claimed Tomato Solids
28 to 30 per cent, whereas only 26.6 per cent could be found on examination.