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45
THE PUBLIC HEALTH (PRESERVATIVES, ETC., IN FOOD)
REGULATIONS, 1925-48. THIOUREA
(Report by the Medical Officer of Health—September.)
In January, 1954, the Minister of Food issued a Circular (M.F. 2/54)
in which he stated inter alia:—
" I am directed to draw the attention of your Authority to the
possible use by certain orange growers of thiourea, and of fungicides containing
thiourea, as a rot and mould suppressant. Thiourea can penetrate the skin of
citrus fruits and find its way into the juice. Experiments in the United States have
shown that this chemical is lethal to some animals in very low concentrations.
Its use is accordingly open to strong objections on grounds of toxicity
it would not be appropriate to introduce legislation designed specifically to
prohibit the importation and sale of citrus fruit so treated. There is no conclusive
evidence that citrus fruit treated with thiourea is being imported into the United
Kingdom, but the possibility cannot be excluded and the Minister is confident
that appropriate action will be taken by your Authority in the event of infringement
of the Regulations being revealed by analysis of samples of citrus fruit."
As thiourea comes within the definition of ''preservative" under the above
Regulations, and is toxic when present in the skin or juice of citrus fruit,
the sale of any article containing thiourea constitutes an offence under these
Regulations.
During the month of February it was reported to the appropriate
Committee that three formal samples of oranges taken from retailers in the
Borough were found to contain thiourea. The Council therefore instructed
the Town Clerk to make strong representation to the Ministry of Food
urging that, with a view to discouraging further importation of such fruit,
action be taken against importers of oranges found to contain thiourea; an
assurance was received later that there was no reason to believe that Port
Health Authorities and H.M. Customs and Excise were not taking such
action as may be deemed to be necessary within the limits of their powers.
In April there were submitted to the appropriate Committee the results
of an additional 10 samples of oranges examined during the previous month
and, in reply to another communication from the Council the Ministry
indicated that representations had been addressed to the Government of the
exporting country, who had given an assurance that action was being taken
by them to stop the export to this country of oranges that had been treated
with thiourea.
During the ensuing months (June to September) there were submitted
to the Public Health Committee further reports; the following list gives
the relevant information regarding the results of the analyses of samples of
oranges examined during the year.
It will be noted that, although the chemical is sprayed on the outside
of the oranges, quite a large proportion penetrates the peel and contaminates
the juice within, and in certain oranges examined (e.g., samples numbered
385, 386, 468 and 473) the concentration of chemical found in the juice
was substantially greater than that found in the peel.