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
Marylebone 1917
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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Milk.—497 samples of milk were analysed, of these 21 or under 5 % were
adulterated, 6 of the 21 contained small quantities of added water, but mostly the
offence was the direct or indirect abstraction of milk fat; the lowest amount being
a little over 3 %, the highest a deficiency of 20.% milk fat, calculated on the official
limit of 3 %.
No Jess than 25 samples of milk contained 5 % and over of milk fat, one sample
attained 11%. High and abnormal yields of milk fat are suspicious, the inference
being that the Inspector has been supplied from a special can, or else the bulk has
not been well mixed and therefore some customers get an excess, others a deficiency
of cream. 62 of the milks were artificially coloured, but the practice of colouring
milks ceased at the end of June, 1917 ; the direct effect of the Food Control
regulations. One sample sent by a private purchaser was not alone deficient in fat,
but filthily dirty, containing a sediment of animal cells, hair, and miscellaneous
debris.
The mean composition of the genuine samples of milk is shown by the following table to be quite similar to that of previous years: viz., milk well over the official standard:—
| Sp. Gr. | Milk Fat. | Solids, not Fat | Total Solids. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | 1031.7 | 3.73 | 8.80 | 12.53 |
| 1914 | 1031.3 | 3.75 | 8.77 | 12.52 |
| 1915 | 1032.0 | 3.72 | 8.82 | 12.54 |
| 1916 | 103 l.0 | 3.63 | 8.57 | 12.20 |
| 1917 | 1032.0 | 3.70 | 8.80 | 12.50 |
Cream.—Out of 17 samples, 5 only were free from boric acid, the remainder
containing up to 10 grains of boric acid per lb
Butter.—245 samples of butter were analyzed, 12 of which were either
margarine or mixtures of margarine and butter. Only 4 of the samples were free
from boric acid, the majority contained that preservative in about 19 grains per lb.,
which is well within the official limit of 35 grains per lb.
Margarine.—Ten samples of margarine were submitted, mostly of a high class;
in fact, succesive improvements in the manufacture have resulted in the production
of a product difficult to distinguish from butter, save by the application of quantitative
analysis and refined physical tests.
Drugs.—A few drugs were analyzed; all these conformed to the strict and
exact conditions as to purity laid down in the British Pharmacopoeia, 1914.
Public Health (Milk and Cream) Regulations, 1912.—The following
report is submitted in accordance with requirements of the Local Government Board
1. Milk; and Cream not sold as Preserved Cream.
(a) Number of samples (b) Number in which a
examined for the pre- preservative was resence
of a preservative. ported to be present.
Milk 497—
Cream—