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20
SECTION E.—INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD
Food and Drug Analysis.
The Public Analyst (Mr. Thomas McLachlan, D.C.M., A.C.G.F.C., F.R.I.C., M.I.Biol.) has submitted
the following report on the year's work:—
" During the year, 402 samples of food and drugs were examined. Three of these were taken
formally and 399 informally, though several of the latter were received as the result of complaints
from members of the public.

A carton of milk contained extraneous dirt and was reported as adulterated, although the milk
was satisfactory. A milk bottle showed dirty marks on the interior, when filled with milk, due to
mould growth, but when the bottle was emptied and dried these marks were almost invisible,
and it was not surprising that it had passed the inspection point during washing and filling. One
of the results of progress and speed is that empty bottles are now generally fed into bottle washing
machines by de-craters so that they miss any initial inspection for dirt while they are still wet. When
dirt is wet it possesses a much darker colour than when it is dry.
Another dirty bottle submitted as a complaint was badly scratched on the exterior of the bottle
although the interior was perfectly clean.
A cream sold as 'Whipping Cream' contained only 38 per cent. fat, whereas the Food Standard
(Cream) Order requires a thick cream to contain 48 per cent. of milk fat.
A powder for making Ice Cream was satisfactory but the declaration of ingredients included
'stabiliser' ; whereas the name of the stabiliser must be given. Four differently flavoured Ice Lolly
Syrups listed alginate and saccharin as ingredients instead of sodium alginate and soluble saccharin
or sodium saccharin.
A sugar described as 'Slimmers Sugar ' consisted of sugar with 1 per cent. saccharin. As it was
also recommended for making puddings and cakes this description was considered to be misleading,
because a consumer eats a pudding to satisfaction or repletion and does not reduce the quantity
because of the presence of saccharin.
Some chocolate coated biscuits were stated to produce nausea. The taste was very rich and the
fat was found to consist of a mixture of cocoa butter and palm kernel oil. Another chocolate
biscuit was considered to have a misleading label as the description ' Milk Chocolate Cream Sandwich'
did not suggest a biscuit. Two chocolate coins contained respectively 4 and 5 parts per million of
lead, and a chocolate novelty contained 3.5 parts per million; chocolate is permitted to contain
only 2 parts per million of lead. A complaint was received of the presence of black material in a
chocolate crunch. This was due to carbonised matter, probably burnt sugar, from a pan which
had been improperly cleaned.
Another complaint was made regarding a bottle of a soft drink. It possessed a slight taint due
to the plastic cap with a rubber insert having been contaminated with disinfectant, due to some
member of the public having used an empty bottle for this purpose. It is impossible both to prevent
people acting in this manner and to remove all traces of disinfectant from such stoppers. Bottlers
should, therefore, take more care with returned stoppers to see whether they should be discarded or
cleaned, and rubber inserts should always be washed separately from the stoppers.
An orange nectar stated to have been prepared from orange, water and sugar, contained not less
than 50 per cent. of added water so that the order of ingredients should have been declared as
water, orange and sugar. A product claimed to be pure cabbage juice appeared to contain about
36 per cent. only of juice with added water. The manufacturers stated that it was pure unadulterated
juice with nothing added after it has been washed, but not dried. It is suggested that 10 per cent,
of added water would be a generous allowance after washing.
The labelling of a tomato juice and a carrot juice was incorrect. They contained a proper
definition in German but bore stick-on labels with the words 'Tomato' or 'Carrot' in English.