London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Battersea 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Battersea Borough]
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The percentage of samples reported by the Public Analyst to be adulterated during the quinquennia 1921 to 1935 and yearly from 1936, is given in the following table.
| Year. | Formal samples. (per cent.) | Informal sample. (per cent.) |
|---|---|---|
| Mean 1921—1925 | 6.4 | 7.4 |
| „ 1926—1930 | 3.3 | 2.4 |
| „ 1931—1935 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| 1936 | 11 | 2.2 |
| 1937 | 11 | 0.9 |
| 1938 | 1.1 | Nil |
The Public Analyst points out that the year under review
yields results closely similar to those of the two preceding years
with a marked improvement in the case of informal samples.
The conclusion is confirmed that deliberate adulteration is almost
non-existent in the borough.
The following tables give details of the articles of which samples
were obtained for the purpose of analysis.
| Nature of sample | Examined. | Adulterated. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal. | Informal. | Total. | Formal. | Informal. | Total. | |
| Bread | - | 4 | 4 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Butter | 3 | 46 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cheese | - | 12 | 12 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Cocoa | - | 16 | 16 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Coffee | - | 8 | 8 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Confectionery | - | 14 | 14 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Cream | - | 10 | 10 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Cream, Tinned | - | 12 | 12 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Flour | - | 4 | 4 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Flour, self-raising | - | 8 | 8 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Jam and marmalade | - | 4 | 4 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Lard | - | 21 | 21 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Margarine | - | 16 | 16 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Milk | 744 | - | 744 | 8 | - | 8 |
| „ condensed (full cream) | - | 8 | 8 | - | 0 | 0 |
| „ (machine skimmed) | - | 4 | 4 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Mustard | - | 2 | 2 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Sugar | - | 8 | 8 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Tea | - | 32 | 32 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | - | 44 | 44 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Other articles | - | 180 | 180 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 747 | 453 | 1,200 | 8 | 0 | 8 |