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58
13 of the samples were not satisfactory, and, therefore, the percentage
of non-genuine samples amounted to about 8.3 per cent., a figure
which is the same as that of the preceding year. The figure for the
whole country was 8.2 per cent. during the year 1905.
15.5 per cent. of the milk samples were unsatisfactory, as against
11.8 per cent. during the preceding year; but in some cases the
deficiency below the legal limits was very slight. 25 per cent. of the
samples of milk were taken on Sundays, and of these 16.6 per cent.
were adulterated.
According to the thirty-fifth Annual Report of the Local Government
Board, the total number of samples analysed under the Sale of
Food and Drugs Act during the official year 1905 shows an increase
of 1,504 samples over the figures of the previous year. In London,
one sample was analysed for every 211 persons, being at the rate of
4.7 per 1,000 of the population; and in the provinces, one for every
433 of the population, or 2.3 per 1,000. It will be seen from the
Table on page 59 that the proportion of samples reported against was
8.2 per cent. of those examined. In 1904 8.5 per cent. of the total
samples analysed proved to be adulterated. There was a decrease in
the amount of adulterated samples of margarine, beer, milk, win and
drugs, and a slight increase in the samples of adulterated butter and
cheese. London is at the head of the list again as regards the
extent of adulteration of milk, the result showing 10.9 per cent. of
samples condemned as against 10.4 per cent. in the 20 next largest
provincial towns. It is satisfactory to know that the fines imposed
show an increase in individual cases, though still, in many instances,
the amounts inflicted are not calculated to check adulteration as
effectually as larger sums would do.
The rate of butter adulteration in England and Wales was 6.9 per
cent., as compared with 5.7 per cent. in 1904. In 1887, the year
in which the Margarine Act was passed, the rate of butter adulteration
was 17.5 per cent.
The percentage of adulterated samples of drugs showed a marked
decrease below that recorded in the previous year.