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62
INSPECTION AND EXAMINATION OF
TINNED, CANNED, AND OTHERWISE
PRESERVED FOODS.
(Special Report presented to the Council on July 12th, 1906.
There are many different kinds of tinned, canned and
bottled hermetically-sealed preserved foods (meats, milk,
vegetables, fruits, etc.) on sale throughout the Borough of
Lambeth, and, speaking generally, such preserved foods
are wholesome and fit for food, and a valuable addition, conquently,
to the daily dietary of the inhabitants. The "turnover"
is a large one daily, at least in connection with the
large provision shops throughout the Borough, and care is at
all times exercised by the managers to secure the well-known
brands, and to see that only sound tins or cans, etc., of
food are sold—the stocks being frequently replenished, and
always carefully sorted for damaged or unsound ones. It
may be that, in connection with the smaller shops in the
poorer neighbourhoods, old stock is sometimes sold, in
which case there may be, at times, a danger of the contents
of the tins, cans, etc., being neither wholesome nor fit for
food.
"Blown" Tins or Cans.
The commonest change met with in connection with tinned
and canned foods is what is known in the trade as "blown"
tins or cans, due to decomposition of the contents with the
consequent formation of gases. A genuine "blown" tin or
can is easily recognised by the bulging of the ends, and the
contents of such a "blown" tin or can will, on examination,
be found to be decomposed, and are, consequently, manifestly
unfit for food. The unwholesomeness of the contents
of these tins and cans is self-apparent to anyone—by smell
and sight. A slightly "blown" tin or can is not so easy to
recognise, and an expert is generally required for the purpose—such
expert judging by the peculiar sound emitted on
tapping the ends of the tins or cans with the finger tip. If
any gas be present in the tin or can, a resonant note is produced
as compared with a dull, or non-resonant, note which
is emitted on tapping a sound or wholesome tin or can of