London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, London, Borough of]
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| Stage of Sale. | Place. | Reason. | Number of Milk samples examined. | Result of Analysis. | Prosecutions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine. | Adulterated. | |||||
| On sale to | In street | Periodical—Week-day | 16 | 16 | — | — |
| public | „ Sunday | 74 | 67 | 7 | 4 | |
| By request | — | — | — | — | ||
| „ | In shop | Periodical—Week-day | 160 | 141 | 19 | 10 |
| „ Sunday | 31 | 29 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Consecutive* | — | — | — | — | ||
| By request | — | — | — | — | ||
| On delivery | At shop | Periodical | — | — | — | — |
| Consecutive* | 1 | 1 | — | — | ||
| By request | — | — | — | . — | ||
| „ | At Railway Depot or Station | Periodical | 72 | 71 | 1 | 1 |
| Consecutive* | — | — | — | — | ||
| By request | 25 | 15 | 10 | 8 | ||
| Totals | 379 | 340 | 39 | 24 | ||
* Warranties.—It is the practice of the Food Inspectors when sampling to
inquire whether a warranty in any form is held by the vendor, and if there
be a warranty and the sample prove to be adulterated, to take a sample of the
milk of the guarantor upon delivery at the vendor's premises. The control
sample is not a sample of the suspected milk, but it affords evidence in some
degree of the kind of milk supplied by the guarantor.
The Board of Agriculture point out that the repeal of the Warranty Clauses
demanded by those who desire to strengthen the law as to fraudulent
adulteration as well as those who desire to protect the farmer. It is alleged
that certain dealers and milk-sellers are adulterating milk and selling the milk
which they know to be adulterated, relying on those clauses to afford an
almost certain way of escape in case they are prosecuted.
The following table shows the number of samples analysed during the last seven years, and the number and percentage of adulterated samples:—
| Year. | Number of samples analysed. | Number of samples adulterated. | Percentage of adulteration. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | 750 | 130 | 17.3 |
| 1905 | 750 | 96 | 12.8 |
| 1906 | 750 | 145 | 19.3 |
| 1907 | 750 | 126 | 16.8 |
| 1908 | 750 | 117 | 15.6 |
| 1909 | 750 | 95 | 12.7 |
| 1910 | 750 | 67 | 8.9 |