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Sale of Food Order, 1921.—This Order placed upon Local Authorities certain duties in
regard to—
(1) the sale of bread and tea by weight.
(2) the labelling of imported produce,
(3) the composition of jam and marmalade, dripping, margarine, and other edible fats.
The provisions of that part of the Order dealing with the sale of bread and tea by weight are
administered by the London County Council, but the Borough Council are required to enforce
the remaining sections of the Order.
Since this Order was published an Amending Order has been issued, which cancels certain
sections of the original, with the result that the only part now to be enforced by the Borough
Council is that which relates to the labelling of imported produce (lard excepted).
A further Amending Order, dated September 1st, 1922, removes bacon and ham from the list
of imported foods which must not be exposed for sale by retail unless they bear a label containing
the words " Imported" in letters easily readable by customers.
Under the Expiring Laws Continuance Act, 1923, the Order, with the amendments above
indicated, is continued in force until December 1924.
FOOD POISONING.
No instance of food poisoning was brought to my notice during the year.
PRESERVATIVES AND COLOURING MATTER IN FOOD.
For many years the Council of the Royal Borough of Kensington have given particular
attention to the enforcement of the law for ensuring food purity, especially in connection with the
addition of chemical preservatives and colouring matter to foodstuffs, and, as may be expected in
the case of a high-class residential borough such as Kensington, an attempt has been made to
obtain the highest possible degree of food purity consistent with modern facilities for production,
storage and transport.
In several directions the Council have adopted a standard of purity, as regards the addition of
preservatives and colouring matter, more stringent than that in use by many other local authorities,
but in no case have they required dealers to comply with a standard which is not reasonably
attainable.
The Need of Fixed Standards of Purity.
The main difficulty experienced by local authorities in dealing with the addition of preservatives
to foodstuffs lies in the absence of reliable and authoritative standards of purity for their guidance.
Section 3 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act of 1875 makes it an offence to mix any article of
food with any material so as to render it injurious to health; it is also illegal to sell any article so
mixed. Section 6 prohibits the sale to the prejudice of the purchaser of any article of food which
is not of the nature, substance and quality demanded. It is, however, left to the local authority in
each case to determine whether any particular article of food purchased by the Inspector under the
Act is sufficiently injurious to health as to warrant a prosecution under Section 3, or whether the
purchaser is prejudiced to such an extent as to justify proceedings under Section 6.
The decision of the local authority to issue a summons in any particular case depends on
various considerations, but mainly on the advice of their Medical Officer of Health and on the
expert knowledge and experience of individual members of the Public Health Committee. As
Councillors of local authorities and Medical Officers of Health vary widely in their views on the
use of preservatives and colouring matter in food, the action taken against retailers differs
considerably throughout the country.
Also, magistrates give decisions which vary in different courts. For instance, several retailers
were convicted during 1923 at the Kensington Petty Sessional Court for selling tinned peas
containing less than two grains per pound of copper sulphate, whereas a prosecution against a
Woolwich retailer for selling tinned peas containing over three grains per pound was dismissed a
few months ago at the Magistrate's Court in that district.
The magistrates are not responsible for these conflicting decisions because they have to decide
on the evidence which comes before them.
This great difference in the practice of local authorities and in the decisions of magistrates
is unsatisfactory alike to (a) local authorities, (b) producers, (c) retailers and (d) consumers.
It is recognised that it is not practicable that statutes such as the Sale of Food and Drugs
Act, 1875, which must of necessity be couched in general terms, should go into details in regard to
each kind of preservative and preserved foodstuff in use, but, nevertheless, definite legal standards
of purity should be laid down.
The Public Health Act, 1875, the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, the Public Health
Act, 1896, and the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, give all the power necessary to
the Minister of Health to lay down standards, and he has availed himself of such power in regard
to milk and cream in the Regulations of 1912 and 1917 and condensed milk in the Regulations of
1923. It is desirable that the Minister should make Regulations defining the maximum amounts of
each preservative and colouring agent which may be added to the various foodstuffs usually
preserved or coloured.