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"seed oil, with which had been incorporated 10 per cent, of water as a make
" weight, to be sold at the price of the fatty contents. Now lard (beyond a
" trace) contains no water whatever ; it is therefore only reasonable to expect
" that lard substitute, or imitation lard, whatever its fatty contents may be,
"shall in like manner be free from water. Consequently any lard substitute
"or lard mixture containing 10 per cent, of water sold without distinct
" declaration of fact is thereby, pro tanto, sold to the prejudice of the purchaser.
" It may be fair, even praiseworthy, to invent or introduce a new food, and
" persuade a customer to spend his money thereon, so long as the substitute is
" a genuine imitation of the article it is intended to replace, but it is sheer
" cheating to incorporate water with such substance in order that extraneous
" water may be sold at the price of the essential material it replaces."
Declaratory Noticcx of Substitutes.—The use of informal sampling in
Islington has revealed the large extent to which retailers resort to declaratory
notices when supplying articles different from those asked for. In 36 cases
where the inspector asked for Demerara sugar, a parcel was handed to him
which in 27 cases contained a declaration that the article supplied was not
Demerara sugar, but some kind of dyed crystals. 32 samples of malt vinegar
were asked for; 10 were found to be spurious, and in eight cases something
different was supplied, the purchaser being informed that it was not malt
vinegar. In 92 cases coffee was asked for, and in over one-half the inspector
or his agent received packets of coffee and chicory, most of them being
accompanied by a declaration that a mixture had been given. Such trading
cannot be considered satisfactory to the public, especially when it is remembered
that a main principle of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts is that a
purchaser is entitled to receive the article which he has demanded.
DEFINITION OF VINEGAR.
Local Government Board,
Whitehall, S.W.
15 th December, 1911.
(Copy.)
Sir,
I am directed by the Local Government Hoard to advert to the
deputation from the London and Country Vinegar Brewers' Association,
Limited, received by the President on the 30th October last on the
subject of a Standard for Vinegar, and I am to state that the Board have
not at present any power to frame definitions of vinegar or artificial
vinegar.
The Board, however, think it may be desirable that they should
state their views on the subject.
In the Board's opinion the following definitions might properly be
adopted, viz. :—
General Standard fou Vinegar.
Vinegar is a liquid derived wholly from alcoholic and acetous
fermentations ; it shall contain not less than 4 grammes of acetic acid