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In addition to the above prosecutions, proceedings were instituted in two cases for selling
margarine in a wrapper not properly marked. A penalty of 5s. was imposed on each occasion.
The total number of prosecutions under the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act was twenty-two,
the fines and costs amounting to £58 9s. 6d.
Composition of Milk supplied in Kensington.—It is well known that the "limits" of 3 per cent.
of fat and 8.5 per cent. of non-fatty solids, which are taken by the Ministry of Agriculture as the
primary criteria of genuineness of milk, are figures very much below those found in normal cow's
milk.
The following may be taken as the average composition of cow's milk:—
Water 87.4 per cent.
Fat 3.7 „ „
Non-fatty solids 8.9 „ „
Of 343 formal samples of milk taken under the Food and Drugs(Adulteration) Act in 1929,
27 were certified by the Public Analyst as adulterated, i.e., containing less than 3 per cent. of fat
or 8.5 per cent. of non-fatty solids. These particulars, however, do not give any indication of the
general quality of the milk supplied in Kensington, therefore, it will be interesting to note the
average composition of the samples taken in the Borough during the year. These figures are
given in the following' table:—

It is interesting to note that the average fat content of Kensington samples exceeded the
Ministry of Agriculture standard by approximately 20 per cent. or, in other words, the samples
would have been returned as genuine by the Public Analyst even though about 20 per cent. of the
fat might have been removed by a fraudulent vendor.
The table shows that the average fat and non-fatty solid content for each month of the year
is well above the legal standard and makes it clear that suspicion should fall on every sample
which at any time of the year shows a fat content as low as 3 per cent.
Milk and Dairies (Consolidation) Act, 1915.—This Act has for its main object the prevention
of the sale of milk from tuberculous cows. It enables County Councils and County Borough
Councils to make Orders which will prohibit the sale of infected milk in any area.
When the Act came into operation the Council decided that a number of samples of milk
should be taken each year for the purpose of examination for the presence tubercle bacilli. In
the year 1929, twenty-six samples were so taken, and all were certified as being free from tubercle
bacilli.
On the 1st January, 1929, the third schedule of the Milk and Dairies(Consolidation) Act,
1915, was repealed and the provisions relating to the warranty defence, hitherto contained therein,
were incorporated in the Food and Drugs(Adulteration) Act, 1928.
Milk and Dairies (Amendment) Act, 1922.—Section 2 of this Act empowers the Council to
refuse to enter any person's name on the Register of Dairymen and Dairies, or to remove his name
from that Register, if they are satisfied that the public health is, or is likely to be, endangered
by any act or default of his in relation to the quality, storage or distribution of milk.