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point of inspection in this country is therefore at the
bonded warehouse. This places on the Council the responsibility
of inspecting this tea to ensure that it is fit
for human consumption, in accordance with the provisions
of the Pood & Drugs Act, 1955, and the Public Health
(Imported Pood) Regulations, 1937.
During 1961¬, 740 samples of tea which were representative
of all consignments received at the warehouse were
taken by the District Public Health Inspector. This
entailed three to four visits a week to the warehouse for
routine testing for unfitness or adulteration with foreign
matter. Experience has now shown that teas originating
from certain countries are more likely to be contaminated
than others and therefore greater attention is given to
these. The main forms of contamination of tea have been
found to be
1. Metallic dust and mineral matter, this apparently
occurring during the processes of collection and preparation
of the tea.
2. Moulds, which arise where the tea has become damp
during transport to this country. Their presence
adversely affects the quality and flavour of the tea.
3. Lead is another known contaminant of tea but none of
our samples has shown this to be present in excess.
Of the 740 samples taken by the Inspector during the
year, 26 were of doubtful quality after the initial tests
were carried out and were referred for further examination
to the Public Analyst. He reported that 8 samples were
from consignments of tea considered to be unfit for human
consumption mainly because of the presence of excess
quantities of magnetic metallic dust.
Some consignments of tea certified as unfit are res
exported under guarantee, usually to Holland, for industrial
purposes. The Medical Officers of Health for the
Port of London and the Port of Rotterdam are notified to
enable them to check this procedure.
In other cases such tea is blended with large quantities
of other good tea on the advice of the analyst,
and samples of the resultant product have proved to be
satisfactory.
Other Food Samples
Twenty-two other food samples were submitted for
testing after receiving complaints and all but one proved