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nitrate are accepted as preservatives in cured meats and in Gouda and Edam type cheese
Ortho phenylphenol may be employed as a preservative on apples, pears, pineapples, peaches,
melons and citrus fruit, but no such permission is extended to apricots or to fruit
such as Avocardo pears, which belong to the laurel family and are quite distinct from
ordinary pears Citrus fruits may also contain diphenyl The food pattern of civilised
countries is changing so rapidly at the present time that one wonders for how long such
legislation can be effective. In support of the earlier note on the necessity for
international collaboration in food legislation it may be mentioned that during the year
W.H.O issued a press report to the effect that boric acid may be added to caviar for all
countries except Germany and the United States Great Britain has forbidden its use
since 1925. At the same time it may be mentioned that F.A.O. is now bringing out a
series of monographs dealing with the legal position of food additives in various
countries each monograph being written by an acknowledged expert of the country
concerned. The monograph on food additives in Great Britain was the second to be
issued in the series.
Proposals have been issued by the Food Standards Committee for Soft Drinks
Regulations Your analyst is greatly concerned that at the present time manufacturers
of soft drinks can add vitamins or other ingredients to make them resemble official
nutritional products and describe them by the official titles so long as letters such as
BP, or B.P.C. are not used Blackcurrant syrups fall into this category, but so far.
the Ministry has refused to take any action though now that even broadcasting has drawn
attention to the matter the situation may be changed Similarly certain drinks need not
comply with the requirements of the Regulations for sugar content if there is a clear and
conspicuous description in writing indicating to the purchaser that the drink has been
prepared for consumption by persons suffering from diabetes Products have been creeping
on to the market recently which claim the protection of this proviso, but which are
intended for slimming purposes and are not expected to be used primarily by diabetics.
Even the names of the products suggest that they are intended for slimming Another
provision which your analyst would like to see introduced is one to prevent claims such
as "made from such and such fruit" for a product which complies with the requirement of
the order to the extent that it contains 2 pounds of potable fruit and 4 5 pounds of
sugar in 10 gallons, i.e. 100 lbs. of final drink, over 93 per cent of the drink being
therefore added water.
Following the issue towards the end of 1960 of the "Food Standards Committee Report
on Bread and Flour" proposals for regulations were issued during 1961 Probably the
most interesting point in these proposed regulations at the present time in view of
the interest taken in slimming is that it shall be an offence to make any sort of
claim, whether by inference or otherwise, that a bread rusk biscuit, or cereal
food may be used as a slimming aid unless there is a clear statement indicating that
it may only be so used if it forms part of a diet in which the total intake of calories
is controlled.
The Food Standards Committee were also asked to review the use of solvents and
flavouring agents used in foods Apart from water the number of solvents employed is
confined to a small number of chemical liquids but the number of chemicals employed for
flavouring is very large. Proposals were also made for regulations to control the use
of Emulsifiers and Stabilisers in Food. One of the difficulties of British law is that
if the use of a substance is generally recognised as suitable and safe for a particular
purpose it ceases to be such a substance by legal definition and these proposed
regulations are no exception to this rule. Thus under the Labelling of Food Order
sodium citrate, sodium tartrate, and sodium phosphates may be described generically as
"Bnulsifying Salts" but under the proposed regulations they are not to be considered as
"emulsifiers" or "stabilisers". It is hardly surprising that exporters from other
countries complain that it is difficult to understand British law.
(Signed) THOMAS McLACHLAN