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116
SECTION E
Inspection of Food and Supervision of Food Premises
Last year marked the centenary of the passing of the first Act
of Parliament for the prevention of adulteration of food and drink.
In my Annual Report for that year, advances in food technology
were reviewed, together with a resume of the growth of the use of
preservatives in food and the legislation introduced during that
period for their control. Deliberate adulteration has been almost
eliminated and emphasis is now on the correct labelling of foods.
In the meantime, however, other forms of contamination have
arisen, one might say, accidentally. These include residues from
fungicides and pesticides used in agriculture, hormones or antibodies
and, more recently, radio-active contamination, much of
which requires new expertise in detection and analysis.
At the time of going to press there is talk of Britain entering
into the Common Market. Should this materialise, a wider and
fuller flow of foodstuffs from the member countries must be expected
and this is likely to throw into relief the many inconsistencies
between ourselves and continental countries with regard to food, its
standards, inspection, etc. For instance, meat inspection as carried
out in Britain, although having full Ministry approval, has no
counterpart in the countries of the Common Market. Food standards,
methods of production, packeting and marketing seem to
vary in most countries and this will doubtless give rise to countless
problems to be settled only at international level.
Such aspects of food inspection will inevitably demand, in
the next few years, more intensive sampling and closer control
of imported foods—duties which can only add to the already heavy
programme carried out by the department.
Legislation.—Of the new legislation introduced in the current
year concerning food, the following regulations were considered
the more important.
The Lead in Food Regulations, 1961—These Regulations made
under the 1955 Act and operative from 16th April, 1962, restricts
the amount of lead which may be present in food (including drink)
intended for sale for human consumption.
Lead-content of ready-to-drink non-alcoholic beverages is limited
to 0.2 p.p.m. and to 2.0 p.p.m. in other foods. The Regulations
do not apply to fish, crustacea and molluscs where a natural lead
content in excess of 2.0 p.p.m. has already been established nor,
under certain conditions, to some other foods.