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Cheese.—Thirty-seven samples of cheese were analysed; they were all genuine
but a sample of Gorgonzola cheese was provided with a thick heavy rind or
plaster containing tallow. barytes and iron oxide. The cost to the customer.
since cheese is sold by weight. of the edible portion. must be very high.
That such a thick casing is not necessary is evident from the fact that there
arc Gorgonzola cheeses with an ordinary rind. Traders. since the matter
has been brought to public notice by reason of a prosecution in another district.
as a rule now cut off the thick rind and it becomes a matter of difficulty to
obtain a sample of it.
Lard.—It was known that samples of lard were on the market containing
paraffin wax. and others with which a small quantity of water had been incorporated.
Twelve samples of lard were submitted to analysis. but they proved
perfectly genuine.
Drugs.—Some 36 samples of various drugs were submitted. All of these
were fairly well up to the standard of the British Pharmacopoeia.
Conclusion.—In St. Marylebone. under the present systematic method of
supervision. it is increasingly difficult for adulteration to escape detection; in
not a few districts elsewhere sampling occurs in bursts preceded and followed by
periods of inactivity. The astute sophisticator by observation ascertains these
respective periods. and acts accordingly; in such districts the real amount of
adulteration is never known; in St. Marylebone the Inspector is always at work—
he moves in an irregular orbit which no one outside can forecast. This. in the
writer.s opinion. is the only effectual way of carrying out the Sale of Food and
Drugs Acts.
A. WYNTER BLYTH.
24th February. 1911.
The following short table summarizes the information contained in the
table submitted formally by the Public Analyst:—
ANALYSES UNDER THE SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACTS
DURING 1910.