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colouring to Milk were made illegal. It is becoming more
common year by year It serves to cloak the watering of
milk and the abstraction of fat. Indeed, by artificially colouring
Milk it is possible to impoverish it in fat to an extent which is
far below the legal standard and yet make the Milk appear a
relatively rich sample, as compared with unadulterated Milk sold
by a tradesman who does not add colouring material. The
housewife should realise that a markedly yellow Milk, except
perhaps in the early summer, raises the presumption of sophistication,
for the large bulk of the Milk collected from the cow
during the greater part of the year furnishes scarcely any
evidence of yellow colour at all. So long as the average housewife
is under the impression that the yellow colour is indicative
of richness, the honest man who sells good Milk without thus
faking it is seriously handicapped in his business, and is, therefore,
driven in many cases to add a colouring agent.
The Milk and Cream Regulations of the Local Government
Board came into operation on October 1st, 1912. They are
designed to secure that no preservatives shall be added to Milk,
or to Cream containing less than 35 per cent. by weight of fat.
In the case of Cream containing over 35 per cent. of fat (i.e.,
the clotted or potted variety which is distributed over the
country) boric acid and borax, or hydrogen peroxide, may be
added as preservatives, subject to a system of declaration.
There is a prohibition of the addition of any thickening
substance to Cream. Those authorities who administer the Sale
of Foods and Drugs Acts are charged with the duty of administering
these Regulations.
In Metropolitan London, as a whole, one sample was
analysed for every 181 persons, being at the rate of 5.5 per 1,000
of the population. In Stoke Newington, one sample is taken for
every 324 persons, being at the rate of 3 per 1,000 of the
population.