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the fact that the London Commissioner of the Cyprus Government had "in order to avoid the
possibility of overcrowding in the Borough by immigrants from Cyprus "asked the Medical Officer
of Health during the year to report whether suitable accommodation to the standards laid down in
the Housing Act, 1936, could be offered in eight cases where Cypriots residing in St. Marylebone
proposed to offer accommodation in their homes to fellow-countrymen.
Common Lodging Houses.—Sixty-seven visits were paid to the two lodging houses in the Borough:
one, registered for 436 men, owned by the Salvation Army and situated at No. 2, Burne Street and
premises in Lisson Street; the other, accommodating 100 women, conducted by the Church Army at
Portman House, No. 10, Daventry Street.
Rent Restriction Acts.—Three certificates as to state of repair of dwelling-houses were granted during
1948. Generally, such a certificate enables a tenant, pending the repair of the dwelling-house, to
withhold payment of certain of the "permitted increases" under the Acts of 1920-1938, but is of no
avail in respect of premises controlled only by virtue of the 1939 Act.
SECTION E.—INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD.
Transfer of Ministerial Functions.—Consequent upon the Ministry of Food having become a permanent
Department, the Transfer of Functions (Food and Drugs) Order, 1948, made under the Ministers of
the Crown (Transfer of Functions) Act, 1946, which came into operation on the 1st March, 1948,
provided for the transfer of certain ministerial functions as between the Ministry of Health and the
Ministry of Food. The effect broadly is that, with certain exceptions, the Minister of Food takes the
place of the Minister of Health in the administrative and related interests of the central department
in the Food and Drugs Acts, 1938 and 1944, and relevant Regulations. The executive powers of local
authorities under the Acts remain unchanged.
Food Analysis.—Samples of 87 different articles taken under the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, numbered
700 (73 formal, 627 informal) and included : milk 91, butter 83, margarine 82, cooking fat 77, cheese
75. The sum paid in respect of each analysis was 15s. Od. (£1 1s. 0d. as from the 1st July, 1948),
except in the case of sausages for which the fee was £1 1s. 0d. per sample throughout the year. The
majority of the 21 samples reported as adulterated or otherwise giving rise to irregularity are referred
to by the Public Analyst (Mr. Thomas McLachlan) in the following report: "The percentage of
adulterated samples is higher this year than it has been generally in St. Marylebone, 3.0 per cent. of
the samples submitted being reported as adulterated. Milk in London is not usually adulterated,
but this year a formal sample was found to contain 20 per cent. of added water, and again later an
informal sample was found to contain 27 per cent. of added water and a formal sample which was
taken as a follow-up the next day contained 30 per cent. of added water. Several food samples were
submitted during the year as a result of complaints or were found to be unsatisfactory when examined
in the laboratory, and your public analyst welcomes the growing confidence of members of the public
who bring their complaints to the local authority in the hope that they will be examined by the public
analyst for the area. Complaints of this type are examined sympathetically, even though it is not
always felt that they are justified. Shopkeepers feel that the local authority treats them fairly, the
complainant is left with the belief that, even if no drastic action has been taken, the food inspectors
now know which shops to watch, and, in these days of rationing and when it is not too easy to change
one's supplier, much unnecessary friction is saved in consequence. A sample of honey possessed an
objectionable odour and taste due to decomposing insect matter and was therefore unfit for human
consumption without considerable clarification. A sample of tomato juice was fermenting as a result
of imperfect sterilisation; another of soup powder was found to be attacked by weevils. A bottle
of artificial vinegar was taken to the food inspector with the complaint that it had been filled into a
dirty paraffin bottle and the complaint was found to be justified. A tin of grapefruit was brought
with the complaint that the contents possessed a "tinny" flavour, and examination showed it to
contain 1.25 grains of tin per pound. This is an example of the change in the public palate as a direct
result of improvements in manufacturing processes. The Report to the Local Government Board
in 1908 by Drs. Buchanan and Schryver recommended that tin in tinned foods should not exceed
2 grains of tin per pound, but the average member of the public would now taste tin in excess of about
half a grain per pound. It is generally believed that acid foods, such as tomatoes, grapefruit, etc.,
always cause an initial attack on the tin surface, but that when the air in the can has been used up the
corrosion ceases. Your analyst is not entirely convinced in this matter, but there can be no doubt
that the canning of food has now reached a very high standard. In the case in question your analyst
suggested that the grapefruit should only be served in admixture with other fruits. A sample of peach
conserve was 2.5 per cent. deficient in total solid matter, there being only 66 per cent. of soluble solids
and this is the minimum requirement of the Food Standards (Preserves) Order. A sample of orange