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176
During the past few years some valuaLble inquiries have been
undertaken by the Local Government Board with reference to the
composition, preparation, and sale of certain foodstuffs, and these
inquiries have been followed by most instructive reports, prepared
by the Medical Inspectors who have been charged with the inquiries.
It is to be hoped that some of the recommendations contained in these
reports will be acted upon by the Local Government Board. It
would be of great assistance to those who have to guard the food
supply of the population if they had more specific and definite legal
guidance or authoritative.pronouncements on many points.
Little has been done by way of Informal Sampling to detect
those who are guilty of fraud, and this method should be extended
in the future within the Borough. This practice of purchasing
samples for analysis without disclosing to the vendor the purpose for
which the sample is required, is often of service in the detection of
habitual offenders. Fraudulent vendors will often supply a casual
purchaser with a genuine article, but after they become personally
acquainted with the individual they consider it safe to serve him with
the non-genuine article; and the informal purchase of samples serves
to temporarily establish such regular customers. When, of course,
informal samples are found to be unsatisfactory then a sample is purchased
under the formalities of the Act so that a prosecution may
follow.
There is no doubt that retailers are resorting more and more to
declaratory- notices when they supply articles which are not "of the
nature, substance, and quality demanded." If one demands Demerara
sugar, malt vinegar, or coffee, in a large proportion of cases
the material is given in a paper, tin, or bottle, which contains a declaration
to the effect that the article supplied is not precisely what
is asked for. This method of trading cannot be considered satisfactory,
more especially as the declaration sometimes takes a form
which must be quite unintelligible to any but the most enlightened
purchasers.