View report page

23
either already in the can or on one of the peaches before the can was sealed, having laid its eggs and
left some excrement behind. Two cans of beans and some dried beans from which the canned
product was made were also thought to have caused sickness. The beans looked unappetising,
when canned, and contained cyanogenetic glucoside yielding from 7 to 11 parts per million of HCN
in different cans. The Code of Federal Regulations of the U.S.A. permits 25 parts per million of
prussic acid, calculated on dried beans and dried peas, and 100 parts per million calculated on wheat
and barley. If the quantities found in the complaint beans had caused sickness those concerned
must have been hypersensitive. The sale of these canned beans cannot be stopped, but they should
have been better prepared before canning. Some canned pineapple slices possessed an unpleasant
and, in one can, a definitely revolting flavour. This was probably due to the pineapple not being as
fresh as it should have been before canning, though the product as sold was sterile. Some mixed
nuts and fruit sold in a decorated plastic case contained about 70 live maggot larvae together with
the resulting webbing and faecal matter. No residue of any fly or bluebottle as such was detected,
indicating that the case must have been left exposed for a female to deposit her eggs and disappear.
In view of the fact that the hatching time would have varied with the temperature at which the
fruit and nuts were kept, it was difficult to say where the contamination had taken place, but it was
noted that there was an infestation in the shop from which the product was purchased. A beetle,
probably a 'bloody nosed beetle' stated to have been found in a blackcurrant and apple pie was
submitted wrapped in a separate piece of paper with some starchy matter adherent to it, but it
was impossible to state definitely whether the beetle was cooked in the pie or had gained access
to it later. Some complaint brussels sprouts and a control sample were both badly contaminated
with a large number of green and black aphids. This infestation may have been due to the warm
dry summer, but the trouble was extremely common during the autumn of 1964.
Several products were incorrectly labelled. A vegetable concentrate labelled as 'seaweed with
various elements and pure vegetable fat' appeared to be a modified form of hydrolysed protein.
If the manufacturers wished to claim that it was anything other than this they must list the constituents
and place them in the correct order of magnitude. The disclosure of ingredients was
incorrect on a sample of instant fruit and cereal coffee substitute. It claimed cereals and roots, but
the type of cereals employed was not described, nor were the names of the roots given. It has now
been suggested by the Food Standards Committee on the labelling of food that the word 'instant'
for products of this type should be made illegal. The ingredients were not declared in the correct
order of magnitude on some herb salt as, although it contained 88 per cent, of salt, this was listed as
a minor constituent only. The ingredients were also listed in the wrong order on a packet of mixed
peel, and on a can of soupe de poisson, whilst a can of cannelloni mengere was not labelled with its
ingredients in accordance with the requirements of the Labelling of Food Order. A product
labelled as ' Scotch Whisky Flavoured Marmalade' was flavoured with an artificial whisky essence
and the description was considered to be misleading. A similar product was made up for comparison
but a tremendous amount of genuine whisky had to be added to marmalade before the flavour was
affected and then the resulting product was quite different from that of the sample in question.
The labelling of a ' low fat yogurt with real fruit' was considered misleading. An illustration on
the cap showed hazelnuts and the carton was coloured to indicate the presence of fruit. Hazelnuts
are not fruit as generally understood. A ' blackberry and apple pie filling ' contained starch, the
presence of which was declared only in very small print. It is not usual for housewives to add starch
to pie fillings and a better description for this product would have been ' Prepared Blackberry and
Apple Pie Filling '. Some cider vinegar had been badly acetified and contained 2.16 per cent, v/v
alcohol and 2.9 per cent, v/v acetic acid. On the basis of 4 per cent, acetic acid in vinegar this
sample was 27.5 per cent, deficient in acetic acid, but unless the sellers had special permission from
the Customs and Excise Authorities it should not have been sold in unlicensed premises. A complaint
about the action of some substance sold as citric acid resulted in an analysis which proved it
to be cream of tartar.
Legislation issued or proposed during 1964.
Whereas the year 1963 was comparatively quiet as regards food legislation, the year 1964 was
busy, not because of the number of Statutory Instruments issued, but on account of fresh legislation,
which is being initiated. The following items are of interest:—
Food Additives and Contaminants Committee.—The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
decided to make the above Committee a committee in its own right on account of the importance
that this aspect of food has assumed. He asked the Committee, among other things, to examine the
leaching out of poisonous substances into foods from any wrapping materials that might be employed.
Urgent attention, however, is needed about the presence of lead and other toxic substances in
children's toys and paints, which children are likely to suck or chew. It is believed that lead and