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Act. The power of the Minister to make fresh orders has been greatly
extended. From the public analyst's point of view legislation has become
necessary in order to obtain efficient control over the large number of
chemicals now being used as fertilisers, weed destroyers, insecticides, and
fungicides, not to mention the use of anti-oxidants for the prevention of
the oxidation of fats and vitamins, and even anti-biotics, which are now
included as regular ingredients of animal foods.
In the 1938 Act the definition of food Included "any substance
intended for use in the preparation of food", but this does not appear to
have been appreciated by most Local Authorities. The point is made much
clearer in the new Act by enabling a sampling officer to take a sample of
any food "or of any substance capable of being used in the preparation of
food, which appears to him to be intended for sale - - etc." This provision
enables articles such as enamelled jugs, pails, etc. to be sampled, if it is
thought that they might be used for the preparation of food and one has to
remember that the use of enamelled pails for the preparation of lemonade
caused severe poisoning from antimony some years ago and that the Minister
of Health published a special report about such enamels. Whilst the
definition of food itself has been widened there is now an extended provision
that if the public analyst certifies a food to be a food to which any
particular regulations apply that food may be seized and condemned on the
order of a magistrate. Similarly the Minister may now require manufacturers
to produce evidence concerning the composition and chemical formulae of
substances which it is proposed to add to foods. It will in future be
unnecessary to prove that a label or advertisement is "otherwise" calculated
to mislead. The Amendment Act permits the Minister to make regulations
prohibiting the sale of milks of higher quality unless they conform to
certain minimum standards—this will bring Channel Island and Devon milks
under the control of the Food and Drugs Act, though it has not, so far,
been made illegal to sell milk, containing less than 3.0 per cent of fat or
less than 8.5 per cent of solids-not-fat. The definition of cream has been
completely revised. In future three substances appearing to be cream may
be solds:— genuine Cream, reconstituted cream, and imitation cream and, from
the wording of the Act, it would appear that a cream bun mast contain genuine
cream. Provision is made for the sampling officer to inform the manufacturer
or packer of a food that it has been sampled, thus ensuring that the latter
cannot be ignorant of the fact until, perhaps, proceedings may be commenced
against them. Similarly with certain articles sealed in containers it is
now unnecessary for the sampling officer to open them to divide the contents;
it will be sufficient for him to buy three or multiples of three of the
article and to separate the containers or articles. This provision would
apply to such goods as whole fruit jam, medicaments containing volatile
constituents, condensed milk, etc.
Action may now be taken against proprietary medicaments, which have
previously been protected from attack if they were supplied in response to a
demand for the article.
Various other fresh points have been introduced. A part time public
analyst has been placed in the same category as any other officer of his Local
Authority, when acting in his capacity as a public analyst. Similarly a public
analyst may now pass to another public analyst a sample, which he is unable