London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Leyton 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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86
Food Standards—Report on Lead (M.o.F., 1954).
On 31st October, 1951, a Food Standards Committee of the Ministry
of Food received a report from their Metallic Contamination Sub-Committee
recommending limits for lead in foods. The report was revised in the light
of representations received from trade and other interests. The revised
report has since been adopted by the Food Standards Committee, which
recommended that the limits specified should be made statutory.
Action Taken.
For each of the ingredients sampled the limits of lead contamination recommended by the Metallic Sub-Committee are given in column 2 (b).
| Sample No. | Description of Sample | Lead contamination in parts per million | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Actual | (b) Recomm. limit | |||
| 516 | Lolly mixture before freezing | 0.4 | 1 | Satisfactory |
| 517 | Lolly frozen in new mould | 0.6 | 1 | Satisfactory |
| 518 | Lolly frozen in new mould | 0.5 | 1 | Satisfactory |
| 511 | Lolly frozen in used mould | 2.0 | 1 | Unsatisfactory |
| 520 | Lolly frozen in old mould | 4.0 | 1 | Old mould specially chosen for the test |
| 519 | Residue in moulds (Samples 517, 518) after freezing | 6.4 | — | This residue is normally thrown away |
| 521 | Orange essence | 1.3 | 2 | Satisfactory |
| 522 | Saccharine solution, 12½% | 0.9 | 10 (full strength) | Satisfactory |
| 523 | Citric Acid, 66% | 2.1 | 10 (full strength) | Satisfactory |
| 507 | Lemon-flavoured sugar syrup | 0.5 | 5 | Satisfactory |
| 508 | Pineapple syrup with added sugar | 0.5 | 5 | Satisfactory |
| 509 | Pineapple pulp | 0.4 | 1 | Satisfactory |
| 510 | Alginade | 4.0 | 10 | Satisfactory |
General Observations
The results of our investigations and the Public Analyst's findings
indicate that excess lead contamination may be due to the action of citric
acid and the natural fruit juices and pulp from which the lollies are manufactured
on the metal moulds used for freezing the lolly mixture. Some of the
moulds used in the test were old moulds no longer used by the firm for