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151
It should be added that many of the samples purchased were
below the quality of the average milk supply of London, although
they are a trifle above the low legal limits which have been fixed.
During the year the Milk samples furnished evidence of the
very general practice of "toning down," a large proportion of
the samples containing fat and non-fatty matter very near to the
low legal limits.
Many of the samples purchased under the Sale of Food and
Drugs Acts have been obtained through the employment of a
deputy, for the Sanitary Inspectors are well known to tradesmen
and others.
All the samples of Milk, Butter, Cream and Margarine were
tested for antiseptics, with the result that 2 of the samples of
Milk, 4 of Cream, and 6 of Margarine were found to contain
them. In no case was the amount sufficient to warrant a prosecution,
and in each case boric acid was found; but in one or two
instances the vendors were cautioned.
Salicylic acid to the extent of five and a half grains to the pint
was found in a sample of Raisin Wine. The makers were communicated
with and cautioned.
The objectional practice of adding preservatives to Milk is
most in evidence in the summer months; and of the 23
samples purchased in Stoke Newington during July, August, and
September, 1912, eleven were found to have been so drugged.
The 23 Butter samples taken throughout the year were found
to be satisfactory. With the exception of one which contained
nearly 47 per cent. of foreign fat, I have not succeeded, in the
limited number of samples with which I have had to deal, in
discovering anything to take exception to. Since the use of coconut
oil has extended in connection with the adulteration of butter,
a careful test for this material has been made, but always with
negative results. In addition to the employment of this oil in the
making of Margarine it has been retailed as a substitute for lard.
In my last Report I referred to the practice of "informal
sampling" which may be employed by Local Authorities to
discover where adulteration is being practised, without arousing