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Fluorine in Food.—The original Fluorine in Food Order, 1947, was brought into operation on
account of the difficulty of obtaining suitable qualities of phosphates for baking powders. Now
that conditions are normal the Minister has decided to allow a maximum quantity of 3 parts per
million of fluorine in self-raising and similar flours, 15 parts per million in phosphate-containing
baking powders, and 30 parts per million of the acidic phosphate content of any other food. This
amendment will require more care in analytical control, but it is to be welcomed.
Preservatives in Food.—Without doubt the most important report or statutory instrument issued
by the Ministry during the year was that on Preservatives in Food. The report itself is
controversial and it is better merely to summarise the conclusions. Sulphur dioxide will remain
the chief preservative permitted and it is suggested that this may be used in wines, beer, cider
and perry, soft drinks, fruit juices, vinegar, dried fruit, fruit and fruit pulp, crystallised, glace,
candied and syruped fruit, raw peeled potatoes or dehydrated potatoes, other dehydrated
vegetables, sausages and butchers' minced meat, prepared starches and sugar syrups derived
therefrom, as well as other sugar, jams, gelatine and pectin, pickles and sauces and dry root ginger.
Benzoic acid could be used as an alternative or with sulphur dioxide in soft drinks and fruit juice
products. Either benzoic acid or a para-hydroxybenzoic acid ester could be used in unfermented
grape juice used for sacramental purposes, liquid rennet, liquid coffee extract, flavouring syrups
and drinking chocolate concentrates. It is further suggested that propionic acid, sorbic acid, nisin,
diphenyl, or ortho-phenylphenol should be used in very special circumstances.
Report on Soft Drinks.—The Food Standards Committee issued this report early in the year,
but it has not yet been implemented by a Regulation. The Committee recommend that soft drinks
should be sweetened entirely by sugar and that artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, should be
prohibited. They also recommend that manufacturers should be obliged to state the quantity of
fruit juice present in drinks reputed to contain it, and finally they recommend that no soft drink
contains sufficient carbohydrate to justify any claims relating to energy value. Other minor suggestions
are put forward, but the three mentioned above are those which are likely to be discussed
before its implementation.
Report on the Composition of Milk Bread.—In October the Food Standards Committee issued a
report in which they stated that the Committee were divided on what should be contained in milk
bread and by what description a loaf containing separated milk solids should be known. The
majority view of the Committee was that bread containing not less than 4.2 per cent. of milk solids
not fat should be sold as milk bread. The Committee generally were of the opinion that the presence
of milk fat does not greatly affect the nutritive value of bread, so that the consumer is not
prejudiced by the use of separated milk powder.
Thomas McLachlan,
Public Analyst."
Food—Adulterated or Unsatisfactory Samples.
The majority of the unsatisfactory samples referred to in the Analyst's report were in respect of
technical faults in labelling or description and after consultation with the manufacturers concerned
the labels were revised or corrected in all cases. The remainder included minor contraventions, which
were dealt with informally, and five instances where legal proceedings were instituted, details of which
are given in Table 11, page 34.
Unsound Food.
Approximately nine tons of food was certified as being unsound and unfit for human consumption
and voluntarily surrendered for destruction. In addition some ten tons of unsound food was destroyed
at the request of a large firm of wholesalers in the borough, without certification, bringing the total to
approximately nineteen tons. This is a marked reduction on the quantities of unsound food surrendered
during recent years. It is partly accounted for by the fact that one of the large wholesale firms in
the borough have transferred a section of their storage arrangements to another district and also by
the fact that recently retailers have tended to carry smaller stocks. Group buying by associations of
retailers has also had the effect of securing a quicker turn-over of stock. A further contributing
factor to the improvement which has taken place is the adoption of better techniques for food storage
and in particular the increasing use of cold storage for canned products. A large part of the food
condemned during the past year did, however, consist of canned goods including imported meat and
meat products, and the Public Analyst considers that more efficient processing might still further
reduce the number of failures. No very large consignments which called for special action were
involved and when destruction on the premises was impracticable or the unsound food was unfit
for animal feeding, it was sent in bulk to a central refuse depot at Westminster.