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60
The Colouring Matter in Food Regulations came into force in 1957 and revoked that
part of the Preservatives, etc. in Food Regulations relating to the addition of colours
to foods. Although the regulations came into force on the 30th June, 1957, they do
not come into effective operation in the current year as regards sale of food by
retail. This was essential if a smooth flow from the manufacurer of food colours to
the retail sale of foods was to be obtained. The Order therefore stipulated that the
manufacturer of food colours or compounds for colouring and flavouring must comply with
the order by the 30th September, 1957, whereas in general it may be stated that food
sold by retail must comply with the requirements of the order by the 30th June, 1958.
For over thirty years the Preservatives, etc. in Pood Regulations have provided a short
list of colours, whose addition to food was forbidden. Many colours have been found
to be suspect of causing cancer and the new order permits the use of thirty organic
chemical dyes together with a few more or less natural ones, which have been used over
many years It is hardly necessary to state that this order imposes much more work on
the analyst for its efficient administration.
The Pre-Packed Poods (Weights and Measures: Marking) Regulations were made under
Sections 6 and 123 of the Pood and Drugs Act, and are administered by Weights and
Measures Authorities only and not by other Pood Authorities. When there is a matter
of the content of a particular food, mixed with other ingredients, one would have
thought it better to handle the matter via the food inspector and the public analyst.
Your analyst had submitted to him a tin marked to contain a definite weight of smoked
salmon, but in which more oil (undeclared) was present than salmon, the declared weight
being that of the total contents of the tin. While this matter can be handled in
other ways one would have thought that this order would have been the simplest one.
The Food Standards Committee issued a Report on a Standard for Ice cream.
Essentially this report proposes to maintain the present standards for ice cream with
the prohibition of the use of saccharin and other artificial sweeteners, except in the
case of ice cream made for diabetics, which could be suitably labelled The Committee
recommend, however, that provision should be made for "dairy ice cream", of which the
fat should be entirely milk fat, and "milk ice'' made on the basis of the old fashioned
hokey-pokey, which is essentially a custard-type ice with a milk fat content of not
less than 2.5 per cent.
The Food Standards Committee also issued a revised Report on Fluorine. The
previous report was issued in 1947 following the discovery of very large quantities of
fluorine in phosphates used in baking powders resulting from the emergency conditions
caused by the war. These circumstances have now disappeared and it is proposed to
restrict drastically the quantities of fluorine permitted in acidic phosphates used for
foods, in baking powders and in flour products containing such phosphates.
There is, however, a considerable delay between the issue of Reports by the Food
Standards Committee and ensuing legislation. Thus the following Reports have appeared:-
Report on Antioxidants. The revised report appeared in 1954, but no legislation
has followed so far. Now that the Colouring Matter in Food Regulations have removed
colours from the orbit of the Public Health (Preservatives etc. in Food) Regulations,
the time is ripe for a fresh order.
Second Report on Processed Cheese and Cheese Spread. This revised report
appeared in 1956. Legislation is also required to control the descriptions of
skimmed, partially skimmed, and so called cream cheeses.
Report on Emulsifying and Stabilising Agents This report appeared in 1956.
Reports have been issued on Arsenic (Revised Report. 1955), Copper (1956), Lead
(Revised Report, 1954), Tin (1952), and Zinc (1954), but no further action has ensued