View report page

21
Some nut milk chocolate contained signs of larva excrement but no insect larva could be found.
It was impossible to say from what insect the dirt had been derived but very likely it was from the
larva of a cocoa moth.
A jelly sweet with a liquid centre was examined and a honey bee was found embedded in the liquid
centre.
Some canned pineapple pieces contained a species of a tropical fly.
A sample of orange curd contained only 62 per cent. of soluble solids whereas the Food Standards
(Preserves) Order, 1953, requires orange curd to contain not less than 63 per cent. of soluble solids.
Of two samples of potato crisps, one contained a live earwig larva and the other a dead beetle.
The beetle had not been cooked with the crisps and it was thought that the packets had probably
become infested either in the retail shop or in the purchaser's household.
Some Italian pears were contaminated with copper arsenate. The arsenic was 2.5 parts per million
and the copper 9 parts per million calculated on the whole fruit. It was thought that this fruit would
be satisfactory if washed before sale. Italian fruit has for many years caused trouble due to the presence
of copper arsenate.
Some brown sherry contained 0.8 per cent. of ferric alum, calculated as Fe2(S04)3. K2S04. 24H20,
but it was impossible to say how this contamination had occurred.
A sample of vermouth was 0.5 per cent. deficient in proof spirit and was therefore considered to be
inferior.
Another sample of vermouth contained a dead house-fly and twelve dead fruit-flies. The alcohol
content was 23.65 per cent. proof and, as that of an unopened bottle was 23.96 per cent. proof, it was
thought that the bottle must have been left uncorked and contamination occurred thereby.
Three miniature bottles of egg liqueur were deficient in proof spirit. They were stated to contain
30 per cent. proof spirit but were only 23.5 per cent., 24.43 per cent. and 29 per cent. proof spirit
respectively. The closure of all the bottles was unsatisfactory and alcohol had obviously evaporated.
A jelly cream in a carton was considered to be incorrectly labelled. The front panel did not inform
the purchaser that milk was required, and the word " flavour " should have been included after the
name of the fruit, since the flavour was essentially artificial.
Some canned butter beans were reported as inferior because they were badly overcooked and
contained too large a proportion of brine to beans.
Two samples of canned coconut in syrup were examined because of the complaint that they had an
odour and taste of bad meat. Your analyst did not agree with the complainant, but the product had
been slightly burnt in cooking. The syrups were cloudy, the cans slightly corroded and the contents
of both tins contained 120 parts per million of tin. The Ministry of Food recommendation is that
canned products be allowed to contain 250 parts per million of tin.
The label of quick frozen cooked haddock and chips completely ignored the requirements of the
Labelling of Food Order. The product was contained in a carton designed to give the impression that
the wrapping was a piece of old newspaper. The disclosure of contents was in smaller lettering than
most of the other print and was bent so that part of the wording appeared on one panel and the
remainder on another panel of the carton. The Labelling of Food Order requires the disclosure to
be clearly legible.
Members of the public are becoming much more critical of the food sold to them and the number
of complaints received by the Medical Officer of Health increases each year. Food suppliers frequently
complain that they would be only too pleased to deal with many of these complaints if the articles
were returned. Unfortunately, experience indicates that many food suppliers adopt this attitude
when their attention has been drawn to a complaint by a local authority or when they are prosecuted
but that when they are given the opportunity to right the matter in the first place they are very
high-handed in their treatment of the purchaser. That not all complaints are by any means justified
is illustrated by the number of complaint samples submitted to your analyst through the Medical
Officer of Health. A currant bun and later a doughnut were stated to contain glass, but your analyst
could not detect any. The "pieces of glass" were probably crystals of sugar. Some canned salmon
was suspected of having caused food poisoning, but your analyst could find no fault with it. Some
sweets were sold in old anti-gas ointment tins and were therefore thought to be contaminated with
anti-gas ointment, but, whilst the method of presentation and the actual appearance of the sweets