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22
SECTION D
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD
Food and Drugs Act 1938
The end of 1955 brings us to yet another milestone in the
history of food and drugs administration. The principal instrument by which food, food premises and drugs were controlled by
local authorities, namely the Food and Drugs Act 1938, continued
until the end of the year. it has now been superseded by the
pood and Drugs Act, 1955 which came into operation on 1st January,
1956.
One feature of the 1938 Act was that for the first time an
attempt was made to group legislation relating to the control of
food under one statute. Previously legislation governing the control of the sale and preparation of food, unsound food, the registration
of food premises etc., were found scattered in several
Acts dealing with other diverse subjects, and the necessity for
separating legllslatlon dealing with food and matters concerning
it from other subjects, e.g., sewers, drains, nuisances, etc., was
recognised. The principal Acts involved were the Factories Act
1937 and the public Health Acts of 1875, 1890, 1907, 1908, 1925,
1936. Many other Acts were also consolidated, some dating back, to
the 16th century, such as an Act of Henry VIII "Concning Phisicans" and one of queen Mary I "An Act touching Thincorporations of
the pilsitions in London".
It is already becoming difficult today to visualise the situation
that existed until the 1938 Act was passed, nevertheless the
advances of science and food technology together with the changed
outlook of the public had demanded even more comprehensive legislation resulting in the introduction of the Food & Drugs Act 1955.
It is, of course, too early to assess the value of this new
legislation but I am glad to see that the proposed codes of practice
suggested in the short-lived Food and Drugs Amendment Act 1954 have
been Jettisoned.
One item of interest in the new Act is the inclusion of chewing gum in the definition of 'food'. until now this commodity has
been a problem owing to a decision in the High court establishing
that it was not food and the resulting lack of control of hygienic
conditions where chewing gum was wrapped and packed in the private
homesof outworkers, its inclusion in the definition of food also
raised another problem since its composition would contravene the
Mineral Oil in Flood Order 1949. This has been overcome by the introduction of an amending Regulation which provides that the prohibition of that Order relating to mineral oil in food shall not
apply in relation to chewing compounds which contain not more than
12.5 parts by weight of microcrystalline wax per 100 parts by
weight of chewing compound and otherwise contain no mineral oil.