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28
A complaint was received concerning foreign matter in bread
and examination showed that the material was a small piece of
general dirt and grease which might have come from a greased part
of the machinery.
A sample of ready cooked oats was examined and found to
contain a mixture of sand and glass fragments. Some of the fragments
were coloured and fused and this was perhaps one of the most
unusual foreign bodies to be found in food during the year. Yet
another sample of oats was found to have a smell of soap but
otherwise was satisfactory.
Another type of breakfast food examined was found to be
infested with the larvae of a moth, and a sample submitted as a
control was also found to be infested and the stock of the shop was
dealt with accordingly.
A sample of minced meat was found to contain sulphite
preservative. Such addition is prohibited by regulation and the
sample was reported against.
Although not strictly within the Food and Drugs Act samples
are checked for weight and in one case a sample of prepacked
currants was found to be under weight.
Bottles of milk were again submitted for examination following
complaints of deposits and contamination. In one instance paint
was found, in another a growth of algae showed that the washing
process was at fault whilst a third sample was found to contain a
gelatinous mass derived from the protein of the milk by the action
of organisms. Although unsightly it was not considered harmful.
Other samples calling for comment included fermenting
tomato juice cocktail and whole rice of a rather unusual brown colour.
A few samples were found to have labels which, although not
misleading, were considered to be ambiguous and attention was
drawn to these in the reports
This report will, it is hoped, give some brief indication of the
variety of foods and drugs examined in the Borough and although
the faulty samples are naturally the most interesting, it should be
pointed out that the majority of the articles analysed are quite
satisfactory.
I am, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
C. Harcourt Wordsworth,
Public Analyst.
vail and co. ltd., leeke street, w.c.i.