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FOOD COMPLAINTS
During the year under review there was a decrease in the number of complaints concerning
food sold in an unsound condition or food containing extraneous material.
However, legal proceedings were instituted in 12 cases and fines and costs were imposed
totalling £631, both figures showing a substantial increase on those for the previous year.
The complaints investigated related to the following:-
1. Severe mould growths, staleness and unsoundness which affected the following articIes
Bread — Mouldy
Danish Pastry — Mouldy
Sausage Roll — Mouldy
Coca Cola — Contained mould growth
Tomato Juice — Fermenting
Apple Slices — Mouldy
Apple Slices — Mouldy
Pork Pie — Contained bacterial growth
Pork Pie — Contained mould growth
Partly-baked Loaf — Mouldy
Chocolate Eclair — Mouldy
Chocolate Peanuts — Mouldy and rancid
Apple Pie — Contained burnt fruit pulp
Veal and Ham Pie — Contained animal skin and bristle
French Bread with Sausage — Contained skin and hair
Evaporated Milk — Decomposing
Tarragon Vinegar — Contained bacterial growth
Sausage Roll — Mouldy
2. Extraneous objects discovered in food:-
Fruit Pie - Contaminated with aluminium fragments
Fried Potato Chips — Contained fragment of root vegetable
Cheese and Tomato Roll — Contained a screw
Russian Bar Cake — Contained string and a piece of fruit skin
Doughnut — Contained dust
Biscuits — Contained natural and synthetic fibres
Cottage Loaf — Contained human hair
Doughnut — Contained a piece of paper
Nut Toffee Block — Contained a matchstick
Coca Cola - Contained dust and dirt
Chelsea Bun — Contained a brass rivet
Doughnut — Contained a staple
Salmon and Cucumber Sandwich — Contained a spiral of tinned steel
Beef Pie — Contained vegetable fibre
Chicken Noodle Soup — Contained a piece of wire
Potato Chip — Contained a plant stem
3. Adulteration:-
Honey )
Honey ) ¯ Contained powdered nut
4. Rodent and Insect Contamination:-
Pate Sandwich — Contained insect fragments
Quiche Lorraine — Contained rodent droppings
Potato Crisps — Contained rodent droppings
Bread Roll - Contained a fly
It will be noted that a number of these complaints concerned foods which were mouldy or
stale, the unfitness in some cases being due to the fact that the food in question had been sold
beyond the "expiry date" inserted in code on the wrapper or package. Recent Government pronouncements
have indicated that legislation is to be introduced, requiring clear and precise
information to be shown on the wrapper or package in certain types of food, giving a date on or
before which that particular food is to be sold. Hitherto, such codings have often been understood
only by the manufacturers of these various foods, and in some cases have not even been intelligible
to the retailer, making it difficult to secure efficient stock rotation.
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