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genuine with the exception of a butter, which contained 16.2
per cent. of water, i i.e., 0.2 per cent, above the maximum
allowed.
Meat and Fish Preparations.
The meat and fish preparations examined this year comprised
the following :—
Brawn 6 samples
Chicken Boll 1 sample
Chicken and Ham Boll 1 ,,
Fish Paste 8 Bamples
Herring Roes 1 sample
Meat Paste3 samples
Meat Pie 2 „
Sausages 17 „
Veal and Ham Loaf 1 sample
All of these were genuine, preservatives being absent
from all except one sample of sausages, which contained
128 parts per million of sulphur dioxide, an amount within
the permitted limit.
A specimen of anchovy paste was sealed by the manufacturers
in an unusual way. Over the paste was a layer
of paraffin wax. with a paper seal pasted over the glass
container. This form of seal is undesirable inasmuch as
the wax does not stick tightly to the glass and thus does
not form an efficient barrier against bacterial contamination
; moreover, particles of the paraffin wax may become
detached and eaten.
Conserves, Vegetables, Fruit, &c.
The samples falling under this head number forty, and
include tinned peas, tinned tomatoes, tinned fruit, dried
fruit, jam, marmalade, lemon cheese, mincemeat and
honey. The tinned articles were commendably free from
metallic contamination, and preservatives were absent from
all but four cases of dried fruit. In these, amounts of
sulphur dioxide preservatives were found respectively equal
to 256, 706, 1.198 and 2,607 parts of sulphur dioxide per
million. The last is 607 parts per million in excess of the
maximum allowance for the article—dried apricots—and
this sample was therefore reported adulterated.
Cocoa, Coffee, Tea.
Eleven specimens of cocoa, three of coffee and four of
tea were genuine. Tests for arsenical contamination in the
cocoas gave negative results.