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(69)
The Flour Order, 1953, and the Bread Order, 1953, allow some relaxation
in the control of flour and bread, Any flour, other than that
obtained by the grinding of the whole wheat, must have prepared chalk
added to it at the rate of 14-oz. per 280-lb. sack, and all flour of
an extraction rate of less than 80% is required to have added to it
iron, vitamin Bl, and nicotinic acid in sufficient quantity to ensure
a minimum stated quantity of each. The Bread Order permits the sale
of breads other than National Bread, so long as National Bread is
available for sale when other varieties are sold.
Mention was made in the report last year of the number of Meat
Orders introduced. The Canned Corned Meat (Prices) Order, 1953, and
its amending Order, and the Offals in Meat Products Order, 1953, removed
all controls on meat products other than the prohibition of the
use of certain offals in the composition of uncooked open meat products
for sale for human consumption and the control of the retail price of
canned corned meat.
During the year there were three Orders relating to the use of
oils and fats in food. The Oils and Fats Order, 1953; The Oils and
Fats (Amendment) Order, 1953, and The Oils and Fats (No. 2) Order, 1953.
These Orders relate primarily to the oils which may be sold with or
without a licence from the Minister of Food, but whereas the first
Order laid down standards for dripping and for horsefat for edible
purposes, these standards were revoked by the repeal of the Order and
the promulgation of the No. 2 Order. In many ways it is to be regretted
that, when standards of quality, such as those relating to the quantity
of free fatty acids in fats and oils, have once been introduced, they
are not carried forward in some way in later Orders.
The Public Health (Preservatives etc. in Food) (Amendment)
Regulations, 1953, and the amending Order brought into permanent legislation
the permission to employ diphenyl for the treatment of wrappers
for citrus fruits. The Regulations also allow the use of sulphur
dioxide as a preservative for certain dried vegetables, and, for a
limited period, the continuance of the addition of borax to margarine.
During the year the Food Standards Committee by its Preservatives
Committee issued a Report regarding the addition of anti-oxidants to
foods. This Report stated that there is no objection to the continuation
of the use of certain anti-oxidants in the preparation of foods,
such as ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), lecithin (a natural substance
generally associated with fat in foods, especially in yolk of egg),
tocopherols (vitamin E, present especially in the germ portions of
seeds), citric and tartaric acids, all of which are naturally occurring
products and therefore not considered as preservatives in the legal
sense of the word. The Committee also considered that iso-ascorbic
acid may be considered as similar to ascorbic acid. The Committee recommended,
however, something new to British, though not to foreign,
law - the legalisation of two other anti-oxidants, namely: propyl
gallate not exceeding 0.01% and butylated hydroxyanisole not exceeding