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They appeared to have been genuine carrot or tomato juice, but the cork sealing the carrot juice
bottle was mouldy on the surface showing that the juice was far from sterile.
A product labelled as ' peach butter ' was packed in a sealed container, and only contained 60 per
cent. sugar. If it had been called jam it must have contained not less than 65 per cent. soluble
solids and it was probably for this reason that it was described as ' Butter '. Although the term
' peach butter ' may be accepted in the United States it is not known on this side of the Atlantic.
The produce tasted more like plum jam than peach jam, and the ingredients were not declared in the
correct order. A preserve made from brown sugar and fresh oranges was labelled ' Integrity It
contained only 63 per cent. soluble solids, as sucrose, and as it was in a sealed container it must
contain not less than 65 per cent. soluble solids. Although rich in oranges its keeping qualities
would be impaired by the deficiency in sugar. A fruit conserve also contained only 61.4 per cent.
soluble solids and a red currant jelly only 62.5 per cent. instead of not less than 65 per cent. There
is a tendency at the present time to avoid the legal implications of the Preserves Regulations, which
control the soluble solid content of jams, and, while some of these products are satisfactory in many
respects, many of them lack the keeping qualities of jam.
A cake frosting mix was incorrectly labelled as the ingredients declared included ' shortening'
instead of ' edible fat'.
A product described as 'Minced Beef' in large letters and 'with onion and gravy' in small
letters contained only 46 per cent. of meat. Minced Beef with Gravy must contain not less than
75 per cent. of meat and with onion the meat content should be approximately 60 per cent. The
manufacturers suggested that the addition of the onion made the dish into a complete meal, but the
flavouring of a stew with onion does not convert it into a composite meal. According to the Food
Standards Committee Report a composite meal should consist of meat and vegetables with gravy
and not merely flavoured meat.
A can of lambs tongues contained only 73 per cent. of meat and two further cans contained 76 per
cent. and 84 per cent. total meat respectively, whereas in the report of Canned Meat Products the
Food Standards Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food suggested a minimum
of 95 per cent. meat. Two samples of minced ham and chicken in jelly contained only 67.1 per cent.
and 66 per cent. of total meat, whereas the agreement between the Association of Public Analysts
and the manufacturers is that the meat content should be not less than 70 per cent. A pork brawn
lacked the appearance of brawn and contained only 72.5 per cent. of meat instead of 85 per cent.
A product sold as 'chopped ham' was really a luncheon meat and contained 79 per cent. total
meat, whereas chopped ham must contain not less than 95 per cent. A further can of this product
contained only 84 per cent. of meat and the manufacturers stated that the low meat content was
due to a mishap and that they would increase their effective control on this line. Another chopped
ham resembled a pork luncheon sausage and contained only 81 per cent. of total meat and, in this
case, the manufacturers offered to call the product 'chopped ham loaf' which would be satisfactory.
Some beef steak with gravy consisted of beef minced much too fine for beefsteak with gravy, and
also contained 22 per cent. of loose fat. Not more than 8 per cent., or at the most 10 per cent. of
loose fat is expected in preparations of this type.
A kosher condensed clear chicken soup contained 0.94 per cent. of protein. The Meat Products,
Canned Soup and Canned Meat (Control and Maximum Prices) Order, 1946, required meat soup to
contain 2½ per cent. of protein and this product was, therefore, 60 per cent. deficient in protein.
Four different varieties of soup mix all had their declaration of ingedients in the incorrect order.
The free fatty acids of the fat in two stuffng mixtures was excessive, being respectively 6.4 and
4.0 per cent.
A portion of back fat possessed an unpleasant flavour but could have been used for cooking
purposes. It contained 5 per cent. of undeclared salt and should have been sold by some description
such as ' salted lard ' or ' salted pork fat' and not as back fat.
The metal cap of a jar of prawns in aspic was badly corroded and rusty and the product was,
therefore, reported as inferior. A product called ' Java Crackers ' consisted chiefly of starch with
shrimp and spices for flavouring, but there was no disclosure of the ingredients as required by the
Labelling of Food Order. Another submitted as cod roe was unlabelled and probably consisted of
herring roe. As a prepacked product, not prepacked on the premises it must be labelled in
accordance with the requirements of the Labelling of Food Order.
A Canadian product described as a 'Salad French Dressing' was neither a salad cream nor a
French dressing as expected in this country, although its sale is permitted in Canada as a French
dressing.
The label of a soft ripened cheese was also considered misleading. It was stated to contain 72 per
cent. of fat on the dry matter, but in fact contained only 65 per cent., and the statement in English