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21
A sample of butter contained 16.2 per cent. of water. Before the last war butter and margarine
seldom contained more than about 14 per cent. of water, now they seldom contain less than 15.5 per
cent. and, as a result, the legal maximum tends to be exceeded periodically.
A cheese was labelled 'Farmhouse Soft Cheese' and packed as though it were a superior product,
whereas in fact it was a skimmed milk cheese and should have been so described. Two other samples
of cream cheese contained respectively 53.2 per cent. and 50.6 per cent. of fat calculated on the dry
basis, whereas the fat content of a cream cheese should not fall below 65 per cent. calculated on the
dry matter.
A cheese preparation labelled 'Exultation of Flowers Elizabethan Cheese' was supposed to possess
wonderful properties. The Exultation of Flowers was apparently used in order to manure the soil
on which grows the grass, which feeds the cows, which provide the milk which forms the cheese,
which makes the man glow healthy. If Exultation of Flowers were radio-active one might conceive
of such a possibility, but not otherwise.
A complaint was received concerning some frozen fillet steak. This consisted of three pieces of
steak of which the largest was tainted and inedible although the two smaller pieces were quite
edible. A sample purchased for comparison was not fresh, but at the same time one could not
complain about it. A sample of minced steak contained approximately 250 parts per million of sulphur
dioxide. It is illegal to add preservatives to minced meat. Some sausage meat contained 270 parts
per million of sulphur dioxide without declaration. This failure to disclose the addition of preservatives
in sausages is often due to suppliers of salt-spice-preservative mixtures not making it clear to
sausage manufacturers that sausages containing this mixture are preserved sausages and must be
sold as such.
Some beef steak with gravy was reported as inferior because it contained only 67 per cent. of meat.
Your analyst considered that it must contain not less than 80 per cent. of meat, but as the agreement
between the Food Manufacturers Federation and Local Authorities had only recently been reached
it was not reported as adulterated.
A can of luncheon meat appeared to be blown but the contents were sterile. The tin was in a
satisfactory condition and the blown appearance was due to the can having been overfilled with ice
cold meat. A sample labelled 'chopped ham' contained 66 per cent. of total meat and was obviously
a form of pork meat loaf and not chopped ham at all.
A game pie in wine sauce was deficient in meat. The total meat on the whole pie was 14 per cent.
Four samples of steak and kidney pie were mouldy and unfit for sale.
A sample of baked beans with baconburgers in tomato sauce contained only 52 per cent. of meat
in the baconburgers. Even assuming that the baconburgers absorb an appreciable amount of water
from the beans and tomato sauce, the meat content should not be as low as 52 per cent. A baconburger
is similar to a hamburger and should contain 80 per cent. of meat. A sample of egg ravioli
contained only 5.8 per cent. of meat even calculating the protein of the egg as meat. It was
considered that ravioli should contain at least 10 and preferably 15 per cent. of meat.
Some hot dogs in gravy contained only 48 per cent. of total meat in the sausages. The order of
ingredients listed 'pork' as the principal constituent with 'beef' in smaller quantity and it was
therefore considered that the meat content should be not less than that of a pork sausage, i.e. 65 per
cent. The sample was accordingly reported as inferior.
A sample of pork sausages and one of pork sausage meat were discoloured due to bacterial spoilage
and were unfit for sale. Two samples of beef sausages were mouldy and unfit for sale. These
sausages had been unsatisfactorily stored.
The illustration on a label of tunny fish with vegetables was considered to be misleading. It
showed tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, peas, and potatoes whereas the vegetables in the can consisted
of carrots, celery, cucumber, and cauliflower with a very little tomato. The varieties of vegetables
present were not stated on the label.
Some herrings in dill sauce were reported as inferior. The code markings on the top of the tin
had been cut too severely with the result that the tin plate was cut right through so that the can
leaked badly. The contents were, however, still sterile.
Some bottled herrings were also incorrectly labelled as they were stated to contain 'REAL
LEMON JUICE' in letters four times the size of other listed ingredients, although lemon juice was
really the ingredient in smallest quantity. In your analyst's experience the words such as ' in wine