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of cream and boracic acid in such proportion as to b2 injurious to invalids and
children. It might be otherwise if the sale was one of a stated or known
mixture of cream and boracic acid.
This was a case stated by the Chairman of the County of London Quarter
Sessions on the hearing of an appeal from a conviction by a Police Magistrate
at Westminster Police Court. The Quarter Sessions affirmed the conviction.
(See Public Health, Vol. 20, p. 282.)
The sale was made by Cullen to an assistant of McNair, an Inspector of the
Westminster City Council, under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act. Ttie
article was mixed with 0.313 per cent, of boracic acid, and proceedings were
taken under section 3 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875 The Court
held that preserved cream was harmless when taken by a normal adult person
in ordinary quantities if the quantity of boracic acid did not exceed the above
amount, and even if it was as high as 35 grains to the pound, but that it was
injurious to the health of invalids and children.
The Court affirmed the conviction and dismissed the Appeal.
The Lord Chief Justice: In my opinion we ought not to interfere in this
case. I wish it to be understood that I must dismiss from my mind altogether
the matters that have been told us quite outside of the case. I am very sorry,
bat I cannot allow them to be taken into my consideration. For instance, we
have been told tint they have been over and over again to the Local Government
Board to ask them to interfere, and they will not. There is no statement
of that kind in the case. Personally, I should not be disposed to credit it
without a statement being made, but, at anv rate, we cannot allow that sort of
statement to be made by Counsel to influence us in this case. Now the
article sold here was sold as cream. It is described as cream. It is described
as rich cream, and it is then further said that this cream contains a small percentage
of boron preservative to retard sourness. I suppose that people know
that cream goes sour, and therefore, in my opinion, it is not sufficient under
such a sale, and under such a label, to say it ought to be treated as an article
which has passed away from being cream and has become preserved cream, and
the case finds that no indication beyond the label was given to the purchaser
as to its composition. Now they have found " That the boracic acid contained
"In preserved cream might be used by dishonest traders to mask decomposition
"and any impurity in the cream, but that boracic acid was generally used by
"the trade for the purpose of keeping the cream good for several days,
"varying from two to six." Under these circumstances it seems to me this is
is a matter as to which, if there is evidence of it being injurious to health, the
public ought to be more protected than they are at the present time. The
magistrates have found, as a fact, that it is injurious to children and invalids ;
and both the original magistrates and the magistrates at Quarter Sessions have
thought that the article, as it was, and used as it was, was an article which was
injurious to a substantial portion of the community. It must not be thought
that I think they ought to find a thing injurious to health because some
exceptional individual is liable to have some particular injury done to his
health, such as lead poisoning or anything of that sort, by eating some particular
article of food. It is a case in which, upon the case stated, the cream,
if given to children or invalids, is injurious to health. It seems to me it is