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29
and accordingly the Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing Joint
Committee was requested to consider submitting a protest to
the Ministry of Food against the use of milk powder and
vegetable fats in sausages, sausage meat and slicing sausage,
in lieu of a proportion of the prescribed meat content.
The Metropolitan Boroughs Standing Joint Committee
supported this request, and received a reply from the Ministry
of Food to the effect that the reasons for this step were given
to the House of Commons on the 14th March 1951 during the
debate on the Prayer for the annulment of the Order, and the
Ministry regretted that they had nothing to add to this
statement.
In connection with the question of lean meat content for
sausages, the General Purposes Sub-Committee of the Metropolitan
Boroughs Standing Joint Committee considered the
question raised by the Public Health Committee that a minimum
standard of lean meat for sausages should be set up. The SubCommittee
decided, however, that in the present circumstances
and difficulties they could not recommend any action being
taken as suggested.
The second amendment to the above Order took effect in June,
1951, and
(a) restricts the use of milk powder in sausages to " skim
milk powder;"
(b) permits whalemeat to be mixed with other meats provided
that the product is labelled and sold as a whalemeat
product;
(c) frees meat paste and fish paste from control both as
regards price and composition.
This was followed by the Food Standards (Meat Paste)
Order 1951 and the Food Standards (Fish Paste) Order 1951,
which prescribed a minimum content of 55 per cent meat and
70 per cent fish respectively, and the discontinuation of the
five per cent tolerance previously allowed.
CURRY POWDER
A formal sample of Curry Powder revealed a lead content
of 24 parts per million; the limit prescribed by the Food
Standards Order is 10 parts per million.
The Food Standards Division of the Ministry of Food were
consulted on this matter, and it appeared that representations
were being made by the Curry Powder Manufacturers
regarding the lead content of curry powders. The manufacturers
stated that the analyses of samples taken from the