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102
adulteration in the stricter sense of the word are rare, though there
are quite a number of instances of breach of Regulations and various
sophistications which are included as adulteration under the Food and
Drugs Act. There are also instances of contamination of various
kinds.
Of the samples of Milk examined, five were adulterated. Two
definitely contained added water, two were substantially deficient in
fat and one was deficient in non.fatty solids, although there was no
conclusive evidence of the addition of water. Two other samples
were deficient, but as subsequent " appeal to cow " samples from the
farm from which the supply emanated were also found to be deficient,
the original samples had to be passed as genuine. The average composition
of all the Milks for the year is :—
Total milk solids . 12.28 per cent.
Fat 3.51 „
Solids not fat 8.77 „
which is only very slightly below the average in 1933. No bacteriological
tests have been made on any of these samples.
Of the Butter and Margarines, two contained small excess of
water; one specimen purporting to be bread and butter was found to
be bread and margarine, one dripping contained excess of water, three
samples of sausages contained sulphur dioxide, seven pearl barleys
were faced with talc., three of them to such an extent as to warrant
legal proceedings, a sample of herring roes contained boric acid and
one fish paste contained sulphur dioxide, both contrary to the Regulations,
one rum showed evidence of the addition of water and one
mustard had been mixed with a small amount of maize starch.
Two matters connected with the contamination of food with
poisonous metals have caused some difficulty during the year. The
difficulty mainly centres round the deciding of what is a proper limit
to adopt and what action it is appropriate to take. Contaminations
such as have been met arise by inadvertance or careless methods of
manufacture, and it is not always possible to trace and eliminate these
at short notice, so that in the case of certain imported products too
rigorous application of a limit would result in the disappearance of
important commodities from the market. On the other hand, it is the
primary duty of your Analyst and the Medical Officer to protect the
jnterests of the consumer. It is much to be hoped that now that the