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59
A follow up sample of gherkins contained 5 per cent of acetic acid, which is far
too acid, and the gherkins were hard, but further samples received later were
satisfactory.
A bottle of tomato ketchup was incorrectly labelled, the list of contents was
incorrect and some attempt appeared to have been made to convert the ''20 fl, ozs,"
printed on the label into "7 f1 ozs,"
The quantity contained in the bottle of a sample of non-brewed condiment was not
given on the printed label.
Another non-brewed condiment contained only 3.18 per cent of acetic acid and was
therefore 20 per cent deficient in acetic acid. Non-brewed condiment must contain not
less than 4 per cent of acetic acid. A later sample of the same make showed that the
matter had been adjusted and the strength of acetic acid had been-raised to 4.89 per
cent.
A sample of vinegar contained L 25 per cent of salt, which had been added in
order to improve the keeping qualities The vinegar tasted salty but no mention of
the presence of salt had been made on the label.
Glucose tablets were labelled in such a manner as to suggest the presence of
vitamins when they did not contain any The manufacturers had already promised
another authority to amend the label and had asked for a reasonable time to have new
labels printed and to clear old stocks,, This sample was from earlier stock.
A Cold and Influenza Mixture was satisfactory but owing to a slight error in
preparing the label it should have contained nearly twice as much camphor water as was
really present.
Some "Paregoric* tablets were in reality aniseed flavoured boiled sweets and
contained no morphine Tincture of opium is an official dangerous drug with morphine
as its principal ingredient and tincture of morphine is the principal active con
stituent of paregoric A flavoured sweet must, therefore, not be sold under a title
which implies that it contains a dangerous drug
A sample of ammoniated tincture of quinine was reported as inferior as it con
tained L87 per cent of quinine. The British Pharmaceutical Codex stipulates that the
quinine should be from 1.56 to 1.76 per cent, so that there was a slight excess of
quinine in the mixture
A sample labelled "Lemon Glycerin Honey with Ipecac" was considered to be misleading
as it contained only 0,13 per cent of oil of lemon The principal active
constituent of the medicine was syrup of squill; none of the substance used in the
name were really efficacious in the syrup
Legislation and Official Reports
The amount of fresh legislation and the number of official reports issued has
again shown a decrease during the year The Public Analysts Regulations have been
re issued in order to provide a new form of certificate to meet conditions resulting
from the Food and Drugs Act, 1955 With the new Act it may be necessary for a public
analyst if he is unable to carry out the whole of the work required to pass a sample to
the public analyst for some other area for examination. This revised certificate
provides at the same time for those cases where adverse comment may be made on a label
advertisement, or other matter, which may or may not be dependent on chemical analysis,
but on which the public analyst is the most conpetent authority