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removes the bulk of poisonous metals from the wort in the brewing of
beer, the figures which were found by your analyst were not surprising.
The manufacturers submitted a certificate from a firm of consulting
chemists which did not contradict your analyst's certificate, but it was
felt that as the manufacturers were alive to the situation no further
action was necessary.
A sample labelled as "Caffeine-free Coffee Extract" was found to
contain 0.4 per cent of caffeine and was therefore not quite caffeine
free, After correspondence and discussions with the importers it
was agreed that the product might be described as "Decaffeinated".
A product was sold as "Biochemical salt which was perfectly
balanced for human requirements", and containing quantities of minor
constituents. Analysis showed that it was not a perfectly balanced
salt, and the minor constituents were not present in the quantities
shown on the label. When contacted the manufacturers claimed that it
was common salt to which was added the necessary ingredients to make it
biochemically balanced, and that it was difficult evenly to distribute
the finely powdered ingredients. They were, however, installing new
machinery and hoped for better results.
A complaint about a small black object in a loaf of bread was
investigated and the offending matter found to consist of a semi-burnt
wheat grain.
A sample of Canadian wheat flour was submitted by a flour mills
for an opinion regarding its suitability for human consumption. The
hydrogen-ion concentration was found to be about 4.0 compared with that
of a newly milled flour 5.5, but the acidity as lactic acid was only
0.074 per cent which is relatively low. The flour had a rather strong
odour and with the low pH it could probably only be satisfactorily
employed for human consumption by blending.
The composition and labelling of a cake mixture were satisfactory,
but a newspaper advertisement of this product was considered to be
misleading. The advertisement to which objection was taken gave the
impression that a fresh egg was in the cake mixture, whereas the egg
had to be added by the user. The manufacturers stated that their
endeavour was to stress in all advertising material the need for a fresh
egg to be added by the housewife, and that they were grateful for the
opinion that this particular advertisement might in some way by some
people be considered to mislead. The advertisement had only appeared
for two months and would be amended.
An apple tart was submitted for examination by a purchaser who
complained that it was unfit to eat. The fat in the crust was found
to contain only 0.4 per cent of free fatty acids, calculated as oleic
acid, but it gave a strongly positive test for rancidity by the Kreis
reaction. The manufacturers stated that they did not hold more than
a week's supply of fat at a time. They made at that particular bakery
200-300 tarts and other goods daily and had received no other
complaints, but they had recently dismissed the manageress as they had
reason to believe that she had on occasions sold goods that were not