London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Shoreditch 1925
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
This page requires JavaScript
35
only preservatives allowed under these Regulations are sulphur dioxide (SO2),
including sulphites and benzoic acid (C6 H5 COOH), including benzoates. The First
Schedule to the Regulations gives a list of articles of food which may contain
preservatives and the nature and proportion of preservative allowed in each case.
SALE OF FOODS AND DRUGS ACTS.
The reports of the Public Analyst, Mr. H. G. Harrison, M.A., show that 1,073
samples were submitted to him during the year. This number is at the rate of 100
per 1,000 inhabitants, and is above the average for recent years.
The results of the year's work are summarised in the following Table:—
| Quarter of 1924. | Number of Samples taken. | Number of Samples. Adulterated. | Percentage Adulterated. | Number of Prosecutions Instituted. | Prosecutions withdrawn because of Warranties, &C. | Prosecutions Proceeded with | Number of Successful Prosecutions. | Fines and Costs. | Amount paid to Analyst for Samples Analysed. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 234 | 13 | 5.5% | 7 | v | 7 | 2 | £ 23 | s. 18 | d. 6 | £ 146 | s. 5 | d 0 |
| 2nd | 252 | 12 | 4.7% | 2 | — | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 157 | 10 | 0 | |
| 3rd | 181 | 6 | 3.3% | 3 | — | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 113 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 th | 406 | 24 | 5.9% | 4 | o | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 253 | 15 | 0 |
| Totals for Year. | 1,073 | 55 | 5.1% | 16 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 32 | 14 | 6 | 670 | 12 | 6 |
The samples taken included 521 of milk, 65 cocoa, 62 vinegar, 55 butter, 42 pepper,
40 margarine, 24 tea (2 informal), 20 non-alcoholic wines, 14 coffee, 11 dripping,
9 baking powder, 9 ground ginger, 8 ground almonds, 8 sausage, 7 arrowroot,
7 camphorated oil, 7 self-raising flour, 7 rice, 7 sago, 7 malt vinegar, 7 linseed oil,
7 pure turpentine, 6 glycerine, 6 custard powder, 6 crushed linseed, 6 mixed spice,
6 dried full cream milk (informal), 5 olive oil, 5 whiskey, 4 boric acid ointment, 4 honey,
4 tapioca, 4 tartaric acid, 4 turpentine (1 informal), 4 zinc ointment, 3 pure borax,
3 borax honey, 3 ground cinnamon, 3 oil of eucalyptus, 3 ground rice, 3 wine,
3 ammoniated tincture of quinine, 2 cream (1 informal), 2 madeira cake, 2 spirit of
camphor, 2 lard, 2 linseed, 2 medicine (1 informal), 2 jam, 2 mustard condiment,
2 mustard, 2 oatmeal, 2 starch powder, 2 soda water (1 informal), 1 each of ammonium
chloride, rum, apples (informal), boracic acid, boracic ointment, queen cakes, sultana
cake, citric acid, coffee and chicory, cheese, lemonade, compound mustard, flaked rice,
fish, paste, salmon and shrimp paste, sugar, tinned rhubarb in syrup (informal),
compound of liquorice powder, sauce and starch.
Of the samples of milk, 19 or 3.6 per cent., were found to be below the standard
fixed by the Board of Agriculture. The proportion of milk samples returned as
adulterated during 1925 was again greatly below the average, C 2