View report page

42
Butter.—Out of 332 samples of butter, 8 were adulterated, being practically
margarine, sold as butter, at a butter price. Three of the samples were "test"
samples, that is, not officially divided. 297 of the butters contained boric acid as
follows:—
172 contained boric acid from 10-20 grains per lb.
119 „ „ 20-30
6 „ above 30 „
27 samples were free from boric acid, equal to 8.4 per cent, of the total number; in
1914, about 15 per cent, of the samples were free from preservatives, so that the
use of boric acid in butter is apparently not diminishing.
Margarine.—Only 3 samples of margarine were analysed; in each case boric
acid was present. It is rare to find a sample of margarine which does not contain
from 10 to 25 grains of boric acid to the lb.
Margarine manufacture has in recent years made great strides, and it is difficult
to tell by the taste the difference between certain brands of margarine and butter.
From a dietetic point of view good margatine is far superior to many kinds of
butter.
A useful guide for the consumer to know whether he has bought margarine or
butter, is to melt a little by immersing a tumbler containing a sufficient portion of
the article in water hot enough to melt the fat. Butter fat forms a clear layer on
the surface of the curd and water and filters rapidly through dry filter paper in a
warm oven. Margarine fat, on the contrary, forms a turbid, fatty layer, and
filters slowly through a similar filter. The test, like most simple processes, is not
infallible, but sufficiently useful in practice, and can be carried out by any one
without special apparatus or expert knowledge.
Milk— 502 samples of milk were analysed; of these, 36 or about 7 percent,
were adulterated. The main adulteration was abstraction of cream, in one case the
milk fat being deficient to the extent of 33.3 per cent. A few milks showed added
water, the worst sample containing nearly 19 per cent, added water.
Most of the milk is artificially coloured, but no preservatives were detected.
There were two abnormal samples, one containing 8 per cent, fat, the other 14.5 per
cent. fat.