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worse with the introduction of shortenings, which claim to "be
enriched with 10% of butter" and to be "richer", so that one can
use less.
The Mineral Oil in Food (Amendment) Regulations, 1955, permit
any chewing compound to contain up to 12.5 per cent of microcrystalline
wax, but public analysts do not approve this order, especially since
only a few years ago the Ministry of Food pressed them to endeavour to
suppress completely the use of paraffin wax in chewing gum. There is
no real difference between paraffin wax and microcrystalline wax
from the food aspect or that of detection.
The Bread (Amendment No. 2) Order, 1956, abolished all price control
on bread, and also abolished definitions of national flour, national
bread, national brown bread, and national milk bread. With this Order
came the Floor (Composition) Order, 1956, which prescribes requirements
for calcium, iron, vitamin B1 and nicotinic acid in all types of flour
and it is left to Food and Drug Authorities to enforce the Order.
The Milk and Dairies (Channel Islands and South Devon Milk) Order,
1956, now made under the Food and Drugs Act, requires such milk to
contain not less than 4 per cent of milk fat. Previously no action
could be taken under the Food and Drugs Act if such milk did not contain
4 per cent of fat.
The Sale of Food (Weights and Measures? Bacon and Ham) Regulations,
1956, and the Pm-Packed Food (Weights and Measures s Marking) (Amendment
No, 2) Regulations require bacon and ham to be sold only by weight and
any pre-packed bacon and ham to have a mark on the outer container
showing the weight contained in the package,,
The Food Standards (Curry Powder) (Amendment) Regulations,, 1956,
and the Food Standards (Tomato Ketchup) (Amendment) Regulations , 1956,
permit curry powder to contain up to 20 parts per million of lead, and
permit tomato ketchup, catsup, sauce or relish to contain up to 20 parts
per million of copper instead of 50 parts per million calculated on the
dry solidso These small quantities are hardly likely to have an
adverse effect on the health of the consumers,.
During the year the Food Standard® Committee of the Ministry
issued several Reports §=
The Report on processed cheese and cheese spread recommends that
processed Cheddar or Cheshire cheese shall contain not more than 42 per
cent of moisture and that the butter fat content of the dry matter shall
not be less than 48 per cento In the case of other processed cheese
it is recommended that the moisture shall be not more than 45 per cent
and the butter fat not less than 45 per cent on the dry matter,. For
cheese spreads it is recommended that the maximum moisture content shall
be 60 per cent and that the minimum butter fat content of the product
as sold shall be not less than 20 per eent„
The Report on Sausages recommends that pork sausages shall contain
not less than 65 per cent of meat, whilst sausages made from beef,
mutton, bacon, ham, lamb, veal, edible offals, poultry, game, rabbit,