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39
A sample of Coconut Flavoured Essence had deteriorated and
the liquid had eaten through aluminium foil covering over the neck
of the bottle. A sample of chicken was found to contain fly eggs,
and a sample of a cheese cake was found to contain mould. A
complaint concerning the appearance of chocolate truffles was found
to be caused only by rough handling of the sweets.
Five complaints concerning milk bottles showed that the
foreign bodies included insects and dirt, fragments of glass, grit and
vegetable debris, a piece of hard plastic material and mould growth.
Following complaints, six samples of bread were examined and
foreign matter was found in some but in others complaint had been
made of the presence of hard pellets of unkneaded dough or burnt
flour and bran. The foreign materials found included mould, a
cigarette end and a piece of cardboard.
A sample of stoned raisins was found to contain debris from
infestation by moth or larvae, and was unsatisfactory.
A sample of Ammoniated Tincture of Quinine was found to
contain an excess of quinine sulphate. This was unusual in that an
excess of the active ingredient was present in the article as sold.
The general level of quality of food and drugs sold in the
Borough is good and the composition of the milk supply is satisfactory.
The days of gross adulteration of food are gone and the
Analyst is now frequently confronted with the more subtle task of
determining minute amounts of preparations used in the manufacture
of foods to improve the keeping quality, flavour or colour. The
checking of composition against the published label can sometimes
be an extremely difficult matter, particularly when it is suspected
that the wording conceals an elegant sophistication.
However, the control exercised by the various Orders and
Standards of Composition is bringing a far higher quality and only a
very small proportion of the samples analysed can be said to have
been sold "to the prejudice of the purchaser."
I am, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
C. Harcourt Wordsworth,
Public Analyst.