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
Woolwich 1941
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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TABLE No. 3—
| Sample No. | Article. | Result of Analysis. | Result of Legal Proceedings. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 394 395 | Lemon Substitute Tomato Sauce | Contained only 7.3 milligrams of Vitamin "C" in one teaspoonful of the sample. The label stated that one teaspoonful with six teaspoonsful of cold water was equivalent to one lemon. One fresh lemon of average size normally contains 22.5 milligrams of Vitamin "C." Sulphur dioxide, 210 parts per million | |
| 396 | Lemon Substitute | Contained tartaric acid, 3.7 per cent.; and lemon flavouring and colouring matter, dissolved in viator. No citric acid or Vitamin ''T3" could be detected. The samples contained a considerable growth of fungus. The label made the following claims, "The perfect substitute for fresh lemons." "Containing Vitamin 'C'.'' "Contains the natural acid of lemon juice." | |
| 431 | Egg Substitute | Samples were described as "The Perfect Substitute for Eggs." In each case they consisted of a weak solution of gum, sodium bicarbonate, soap and yellow colouring matter in water; as this mixture has nrfappreciable nutritive value and is unsuitable for many of the purposes for which eggs are used the description may be misleading. | Case dismissed on on production of warranty. |
| 432 | Egg Substitute | do., do.. do. | do. |
| 473 | Sausages, Beef | Boric Acid, 0-012 per cent. | — |
In addition to these, 32 informal samples as set out in Table No. 4, were found
to be adulterated.
TABLE No. 4.
| Article. | No. of Samples adulterated. | Article. | No. of Samples adulterated. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | 7 | Lemon Substitute | 3 |
| Tapioca | 1 | Tomato Ketchup | 1 |
| Meat Pie | 3 | Saccharin Tablets | 4 |
| Sausages | 1 | Zinc Ointment | 1 |
| Suet .. | 1 | Glauber's Salts | 2 |
| Raisins | 1 | Aspirin Tablets | 1 |
| Egg Substitute | 3 | Bleaching Powder | 1 |
| Sugar Substitute | 1 | Tincture of Iodine | 1 |
Food Poisoning. The number of notifications of food poisoning was 46.