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B 644. Black currant jam (Informal). Contained 24 parts per
million sulphur dioxide in excess or 1.6 times the permitted
quantity.
B 671. Black currant jam (same vendor as B 644). Contained 16
parts per million sulphur dioxide in excess or 1.4 times the
permitted quantity. Vendor cautioned.
Lard.
Out of 10 samples of lard analysed one sample was adulterated.
C 619 (Informal). Contained 8.5 per cent, of water. A further
formal sample was genuine.
Minced
Meat.
Out of 19 samples of minced meat 3 samples contained preservative.
Sulphur dioxide is prohibited in meat.
A 36. Contained 1,250 parts sulphur dioxide per million. Vendor
fined £2.
A 45. Contained 375 parts sulphur dioxide per million. Vendor
fined £5, with £2 2s. Od. costs.
A 51. Contained 290 parts sulphur dioxide per million. Vendor
fined £5, with £2 2s. Od. costs.
Sago.
4 out of 6 informal samples of sago consisted of a mixture of sago and
tapioca. No further samples were taken.
In Sandys v. Rhodes (1903), a grocer was prosecuted for selling tapioca
as sago. The High Court held that no offence had been committed.
Soda Water.
3 samples of soda water were analysed. 2 of these contained 7.3 and
8.1 grains of sodium bicarbonate per pint respectively ; the remaining sample
consisted of aerated tap water. There is no definite standard for sodium
bicarbonate in soda water. It is generally admitted that a reasonable standard
is 10 grains sodium bicarbonate (the cost of which is slight) per pint of soda
water, and many mineral water manufacturers conform fairly closely to that
standard, the sodium bicarbonate varying from 5 to 10 grains per pint. The
soda free article is usually cheap and probably satisfies many purchasers, but it
should be labelled "Aerated water," or the absence of sodium bicarbonate
declared.
Spirits.
11 samples of whisky, 6 samples of gin, 3 samples of brandy and 2 samples
of rum were analysed. Of these, 1 sample of whisky and 2 samples of gin
were adulterated.
B 332. Whisky. Contained 1.8 per cent, excess water. Vendor
cautioned.
B 449. Gin (Informal). Contained 1.5 per cent, excess water.
B 500. Gin (Informal). Contained 2.8 per cent, excess water.
Further formal samples taken from the vendors of these samples were of
poor quality, containing 1.0 and 0.8 per cent, excess water respectively.
Sweets.
10 samples of various kinds were genuine. 4 of these samples contained
sulphur dioxide in amount less than the permitted quantity. In 2 of these
cases—"Clear Mints"—the sweets were hard and had been made from cane
sugar and glucose, and contained 190 parts of sulphur dioxide per million.
Cane sugar and solid glucose may contain 70 parts sulphur dioxide per million
and liquid glucose may contain 450 parts per million. Although the sweets