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75
Milk.—11.6 of the ordinary milk samples were adulterated, as
compared with 11.8 in 1902, but the proportion of milk marked genuine
but inferior was higher, being 12 per cent., as compared with 8 per cent.
in 1902.
The attention of the House of Commons has been directed by
Mr. Kearley, M.P., to the administration of the Food Adulteration Acts,
and in particular to the adulteration of milk in London. He stated
that the average percentage of adulteration of milk in the twenty
largest towns, excluding London, was 8.3 per cent., and that in the
whole of the Metropolis it was 15.2 per cent. He pointed out that in
Manchester, where the Acts had been efficiently administered, for some
years the percentage of adulteration of milk was only about 3½ per
cent., and suggested that the Local Government Board should appoint
special inspectors in order that the serious adulteration of milk in
London might be diminished.
In the course of his reply Mr. Walter Long, President of the Local
Government Board, is reported to have stated that "to do the work of
the London County Council or London Borough Councils by Government
agency at Government cost would be the very worst thing in the interest
of the Adulteration Acts. There had undoubtedly been a want of
activity in London, and his business was to urge the Municipal Authorities
in London to do their work properly and at their own cost." The
London County Council has no jurisdiction whatever under these
Acts, but they have prepared a statement as to the working of the
Acts in London for the years 1900-2, and in certain large towns of
England for the year 1902. The following extract is taken from this
Eeport:—
"There has, in recent years, been a marked increase in the number
of samples purchased in London for analysis. Thus for every 10,000
of the population the numbers purchased during the years mentioned
were as follows:—

"In 1902 the number of samples purchased for analysis per 10,000
of the population of large towns of England having 200,000 inhabitants
and upwards was as follows:—