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30
Contaminated Food
More cases of contaminated food have been brought to the notice of the Public Health Department.
Eleven samples of food with foreign bodies were reported by the public. A caution was administered
to three firms, but no action was taken in the other 8, because the foreign bodies were either not harmful to
health, or there was insufficient evidence that the firm was responsible.
Food Unfit for Human Consumption
Meat.
Bacon 4,534½ lbs.
Cooked 246¼ lbs.
Tinned 3,660¾ lbs.
Raw 3,296¾ lbs.
Fish.
Tinned 6,155 tins
Raw 1,216¾ lbs.
Vegetables.
Tinned 6,016 tins
Raw 127½ lbs.
Fruit.
Tinned 17,529 tins
Raw 100¾ lbs.
Bread, flower, cereals, etc. 128¾ lbs.
Preserves 721½ lbs.
Cheese 747½ lbs.
Butter and fats 266¼ lbs.
Eggs 60
Tinned milk 4,066 tins
Miscellaneous.
Baby food 1 tin
Biscuits 13½ lbs.
Chocolate cream 8 ozs.
Chocolate tea cakes 9 tins
Christmas puddings 14 lbs.
Cocoa 13 tins
Coffee 13 tins
Coffee 4 bottles
Cream 20 tins
Custard powder 123 pkts.
Dried fruit—dates 134 lbs.
Dried fruit—prunes 66½ lbs.
Dried fruit—sultanas 171 lbs.
Egg powder 7½ lbs.
Figs 12 pkts.
Flacked rice 210 lbs.
Flavourings 124 bottles
Fruit juice 160 tins
Fruit squash 3 bottles
Glucose 1 pkt.
Iced lollies 72
Icing 31 tubes
Jelly cream 2½ ozs.
Jelly powder 37 pkts.
Ketchup 3 jars
Meat puddings 9 tins
Mincemeat 24 tins
Minerals 2 bottles
Mint sauce 9 jars
Nuts 4 pkts.
Paste 64 jars
Pickles 12 bottles
Puddings 51 tins
Pudding mixtures 403 pkts.
Salad cream 1 tin
Sandwich spread 5 jars
Sauce 34 bottles
Sausages 24 lbs.
Soup 356 tins
Spaghetti 6 tins
Suet 24 pkts.
Syrup 4 tins
Tomato pulp 23 tons, 5 cwt. 90½ lbs.
Method of Disposal of Food Unfit for Human Consumption
With the exception of the tomato pulp, all food was dealt with as trade refuse by the Borough
Engineer's Department and deposited on the controlled refuse tip. Part of the tomato pulp was used for
pig food and the remainder was buried on the land of the owners.
Clean Food (Sampling)
Twelve retailers were responsible for the 12 samples found to be unsatisfactory—five were prosecuted,
3 officially cautioned; no action was taken against 4.
The 4 unsatisfactory fish samples included two where smoked cod was sold as smoked haddock,
one, haddock sold as hake, and one cod sold as hake. Thee fishmongers were prosecuted with fines and costs
of £2 and £3 3s. 0d., £2 and £3 3s. 0d., and £1 (the shop manager was also fined £5 and £2 2s. 0d. costs for
aiding and abetting); an official caution was issued for the remaining one.
Official cautions were also issued to a retailer of 'pineapple jelly with added pineapple' deficient
in pineapple, and to the importer of oranges containing an unauthorised preservative.
The butcher who sold pigs' liver as lambs' liver was given an absolute discharge on payment of
£3 3s. 0d. costs.
No action was taken against three retailers for selling ice cream which was deficient in fat, sausages
containing a permitted but undisclosed preservative, and a sample of 'pickled onions in vinegar' suspected
of containing non-brewed condiment but not proved on further sampling.
The unsatisfactory sample of rum contained 8% added water; the barman responsible was fined
£10 with £4 18s. 0d. costs.
At the end of 1953, a sample of cheese and macaroni was unsatisfactory because it contained a
mixture of only about 50% cheese, and the ingredients were not listed on the packet. The manufacturers
were fined £25 and £6 6s. 0d. costs on each count (Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943, and Labelling
of Food Order, 1953).