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116
The Chief Magistrate in the course of a considered judgment, said :—
" The original form of vinegar was, no doubt, the vin aigre—-a sour
wine, but this kind of vinegar appears to have been comparatively little
used in this country owing to the fact that England is not a wine producing
country and it had to be imported and was expensive.
There can, I think, be no doubt that since the early part of the 17th
century the commodity ordinarily sold in this country as vinegar was the
product of fermentation, and that it was not until about the year 1890
that the fluid which we are now considering made its appearance on the
market, although possibly there may have been isolated cases in which
it was sold as vinegar as far back as 1860. Mr. Murphy (counsel for the
defence) says it is agreed on all sides that the substance sold by his client
is innocuous and unadulterated and is a perfectly harmless condiment which
can properly be mixed with pickles supplied for human use or given to
people who want to pour a little over their fried fish or their salad, but the
real question is not whether this condiment is innocuous or adulterated, but
whether it can properly be sold as vinegar. Both vinegar, which is the
product of fermentation and the substance sold by Mr. Murphy's client
are composed of acetic acid diluted with water in very much the same
proportions, but the acetic acid in the one is produced in a way different
from that in the other and the vinegar produced by fermentation is not
only produced in a way which does give the finished article a better aroma
and flavour, it also contains other products of fermentation not present in
the synthetic compound.
Bearing in mind the fact that for some three hundred years the
substance sold as vinegar was the product of fermentation and that it is
admitted by the witnesses for the Defence that it is produced in a way
which undoubtedly gives it a better aroma and flavour, I have come to
the conclusion that it is not permissible to sell as vinegar or table vinegar
a substance which is not the product of fermentation."
The defendant was fined £5 and ordered to pay 25 guineas costs.
The defendant appealed to Quarter Sessions against the decision.
In dismissing the appeal, on payment of 75 guineas costs, the Chairman
said : " The Committee cannot agree with Mr. Swan's contention that the
evidence shows that the words ' Table Vinegar ' have become a term of
art and are now by the custom in this trade used to denote what may
conveniently be termed ' synthetic vinegar.' The fact that a very large
majority of the manufacturers add such words as ' wood,' ' non-brewed,'