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Report of the Public Analyst 37
Case No. 138
Coco-cola: The complaint in this case was that the
product contravened the standards of the Food and
Drugs Act. Careful examination of this sample has
been made, in particular it was tested for preservatives.
Nothing was found to which exception
can be taken. The article contains a small amount
of phosphoric acid, the use of which, in beverages
of this kind, is prohibited in some countries and
it is because of this that exception to its sale has
been raised in some quarters. The complaint was
considered not justified.
Case No. 782
Sweets: The complainant bought these sweets "off
points" to relieve a sore throat and stated that they
had caused sickness and vomiting. No substance
which could cause these symptoms was detected,
although they were scarcely suitable for a demulcent.
Case No. 894
Highly coloured sweets: No dyestuffs classed as
harmful were detected and the complaint was
considered not justified.
Case No. 973
Red Currant Syrup: This sample was sent for
examination as a possible cause of sickness. No
harmful constituent was detected and the sample
was passed as genuine.
Butter and Margarine
The average water content of the 43 samples of butter proved
to be 15.3 per cent., that of the 41 samples of margarine 15.2 per
cent. The average content of boron preservative in the samples of
margarine calculated to boric acid was 0.20 per cent.
Mineral Oil
Thirty samples of cakes of various kinds were examined for
excessive acidity of the fat used, in addition to the routine test
for paraffin. In no case was a positive result obtained.