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69
Oilier Infringements.—Proceedings were taken against one retailer for
having no name or address on milk can—fined £2; and against two retailers
for selling milk without being registered—fined 20s. and 2s. costs.
Tinned Vegetables.—63 samples of peas, beans and spinach were taken,
9 of these had no colouring matter added to them, 54 contained
sulphate of copper. In peas it varied from under 1 up to 3.04, in beans
it was under 2 grains, in spinach there was found 2 grains, 5.25 and
10.43 grains. The practice of the Council for many years has been to
prosecute in all cases where the amount was over 2 grains under Section 3
of the Act and the magistrates have always supported the action of the
Council. This year, however, two cases in which the amount was 2.21
and 2.92 were dismissed by a magistrate who was acting temporarily
in one of the Westminster Courts and who evidently had not had to deal
before with this particular class of case.
In 12 other cases penalties were inflicted. No proceedings are taken
when the amount of copper sulphate is under 2 grains if disclosure is made
that it is present. The usual amount is about 1.4 grains. The majority
of the peas that failed to indicate the presence of copper, or in which there
was an excess were of Italian origin. Fifteen years ago I met representatives
of the French packers, and as a result the amount of copper
has been restricted so that it has become unusual to find that the abovementioned
limit is exceeded. Last year I communicated with the Italian
Chamber of Commerce and they called a meeting of Italian packers with
whom I discussed the subject. This business has been taken up in Italy
since the war and many of the packers were new to it and had no exact
information. As a result of the conference the Chamber issued a letter
which I drafted to Italian packers and also prepared a special report
for the Ministry of Commerce. This will not affect vegetables which have
been packed in 1922, but it is hoped that in subsequent years it will be
found that the Italian packers have come into line with those in France.
One would expect that a matter of this kind should be dealt with by the
Minister of Health, but as the successive Ministries have not availed themselves
of the powers given by the Public Health (Food Regulations) Act
of 1907, there may be some hesitation on the part of the Ministry to enter
into such negotiations. It would materially assist both local authorities
and manufacturers if such regulations were issued, but before these could
be issued an enquiry into the whole subject should be instituted. More
than 20. years ago a Committee made an extensive report on the subject
with a number of recommendations which have been taken as a guide
by local authorities, but no action has been taken thereon by the Ministry.
Since then the use of preservatives and colouring matters in foods has
become more extensive, and further information is required as to their