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19
Of the 128 samples of milk analysed, 101 were submitted as Sunday
samples, only 27 having been taken on other days.
None of the milk samples analysed fell below the minimum legal standard
in Fat or Solids-not-fat. The absence of any manifest instance of
milk adulteration during the year is very satisfactory; but it will be regretted
that the average quality of the milk shows little improvement over
the low averages recorded in these Reports in the past few years. The
fall in milk solids during the months February, March and April, was,
however, less marked than in the previous years.
Deptford
Southern
England
Feb.-April
1949
Whole Year
1949
Year
1948
Year
1947
Year
1946
Pre-War
Average
Fat 3.39 3.47 3.45 3.51 3.56 3.75
Solids-not-fat 8.62 8.74 8.72 8.68 8.73 888
Total solids 12.01 12.21 12.17 12.19 12.29 12.64
The testing of milk samples in this laboratory under the Milk (Special
Designation) (Pasteurised and Sterilized Milk) Regulations ceased at the
end of the year.
Among the samples other than milk reported as being unsatisfactory
may be mentioned the following:—
Two samples of Curry Powder (from the same source) adulterated with
foreign flour; the flour was identified after a lengthy microscopical study
of cultivated grains as being derived from the Cicer Arietinum, a plant
grown in India and also known as Chick-pea and Bengal Gram. Curry
powder should consist of ground spices, and a Food Standards Order has
now been made which prescribes a standard of purity and comes into force
on 1st April, 1950. This should simplify the legal position, which, in
respect of adulteration committed in a foreign country, has proved very
unsatisfactory.
Samples of Greengage Jam from one manufacturer have been found
slightly below the minimum standard of the Preserves Order (i.e. 38 per
cent fruit). The position here is also rather unsatisfactory, since although
one feels that action should be taken to maintain the present minimum
quality of jam, which to judge from frequent complaints is thought by
many people to be too low, any projected prosecution would have to be
based upon and confined to one particular sample, and there are several
ways open to defence to account for a small deficiency in the apparent
fruit content of a single jar of jam.
Samples of Tincture of Iodine, Ammoniated Tincture of Quinine and
Sulphur Ointment failed to comply with the standard of the British
Pharmacopoeia, and a sample of Effervescent Lemonade Powder was
found to have deteriorated through exposure to moisture to such a degree