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137
Preserved Foods, that legislation should be passed embodying the
following important reforms:—
"1. That the name and address of the manufacturer, and the
date of canning, shall be impressed on the cans.
"2. It shall be unlawful to sell for any purpose canned goods
that are unfit for human consumption, and it shall be the duty of
any person in possession of unsound canned foods to notify and
surrender same to the local authority, who shall destroy such
unsound food free of charge.
"3. A certain number of tins (say 1 per cent.) from each
consignment shall be opened on importation and the contents
examined under the supervision or instructions of the Sanitary
Authority concerned, prior to such canned foods being placed on
the market.
"4. Tins which are known in the trade as 'doubtfuls' shall
be deemed to be unfit for human consumption.
"5. Food intended for canning shall be inspected by independent
officials prior to being canned, and all foods shall be canned
under strictly hygienic conditions.
"6. In the opinion of the Branch the use of preservatives in
canned foods is unnecessary, and should under no circumstances
be permitted."
The Secretary was directed by the Branch to forward this resolution
to the Local Government Board, the Board of Agriculture, the London
County Council, and the Metropolitan City and Borough Councils, and to
express the hope that the Poplar Borough Council would support the Branch
by making representations to these bodies, with a view of obtaining the
desired reforms.
In submitting the above resolutions to the Public Health and Housing
Committee, I suggested that the Sanitary Authority shall have in respect
of factories where food is prepared, the same powers of entry as an
Inspector under the Factory and Workshop Act of 1901, and that the
Local Authority be empowered to institute legal proceedings upon the
report of the Medical Officer of Health or Sanitary Inspector, as under
Section 135 of the aforementioned Act, in respect of such factories.