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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
The Colouring Matter in Food (Amendment) Regulations 1970 are operative
from 1st January, 1971, and remove the red colour, Ponceau MX, from
the permitted list.
The Soft Drinks (Amendment) Regulations 1970 came into force on the
3rd November, 1970, and permit the term "artificial sweetener" to be
used on labels for a further period of twelve months.
The Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1970 come into force on 1st
March, 1971. They supersede the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations
1960 and 1962 and the principal changes are :—
(a) raw food which has to be milled or refined to make it fit for human
consumption is brought within the scope of the Regulations;
(b) before food is offered for sale it must be separated from any food which
is unfit for human consumption;
(c) animal feed must not be kept in a food room unless in a suitable closed
container;
(d) any person handling open food must wear clean and washable overclothing;
(e) the business of packing or storing eggs, fruit or vegetables on farm
premises is made subject to certain requirements.
Composition and
Labelling
Eight hundred and ninety-six samples of food and drugs were examined, a
sampling rate of 3.4 per 1,000 of the population. The Public Analyst reported
adversely on 64 samples. Of these, 36 were samples of packaged foods
which were incorrectly labelled; 26 samples were unsatisfactory, inferior or
unfit to eat; and in two cases both labelling infringements and unsatisfactory
conditions were found.
A sample of " Pure Virgin Olive Oil ", the description of which indicates its
origin from the first pressing of green olives, was found to have been
prepared from black olives.
A product marked " Apple Molasses " extravagantly claimed to contain the
"sun ripened goodness of over 12 lb. of apples with beet molasses". It
should also be emphasised that beet molasses is an unusual ingredient for
human consumption in this country.
The Public analyst, in a comprehensive report, strongly criticised the claims
made for a well-known imported tonic. The use of the name " Elixir"
suggested magical properties not confirmed by analytical results. The
importer has undertaken to amend the advertising material and the labelling
of the product.
A sample described as " Calorie reduced mashed potato " was found to
have had its bulk substantially increased by an inert indigestible vegetable
compound which has the effect of reducing the number of calories per ounce
but also changing the potato into a compound food. Action is being taken
to have this misleading wording altered.
The number of items of Continental grocery goods completely devoid of any
English on their labels increases each year and this leaves most people to
guess at the contents from the pictorial representation on the label. An
imported carton which appeared from the picture to be plum juice was
found to be 50% deficient in juice, and the importer agreed to label it as a
fruit drink.
Food Complaints
During the year 146 food complaints were received. These were all
investigated and in the majority of cases warning letters were sent.
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