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as soon as practicable a sample of milk from a corresponding milking of
the cows, and the foregoing provisions shall apply accordingly :
Provided that the person taking the sample shall be empowered to
take any such steps at the dairy as may be necessary to satisfy him
that the sample is a fair sample of the milk of the cows when properly
and fully milked.
Preservatives, &c., in Food.
In August, 1925, the Minister of Health forwarded for the
information of the Authority a copy of the Public Health
(Preservatives, &c., in Food) Regulations, 1925, which were
based on the recommendations of the Departmental Committee
on the Use of Preservatives and Colouring Matters
in Food.
The Regulations provide for the prohibition of the impor
tation and sale of articles of food to which preservatives and
other specified substances have been added. The provisions
as to importation contained in Part III of the Regulations
will be enforced by the Officers of Customs and Excise and by
the Port and other Sanitary Authorities responsible for the
administration of the Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations,
1925. The Regulations in terms give co-ordinate
jurisdiction to the Officers of Customs and Excise and to the
Local Authorities and their officers, but it has been arranged
with the Commissioners of Customs and Excise that so far
as meat and fish and their products are concerned, the
enforcement will normally be left to Local Authorities and
their officers, and that the Officers of Customs and Excise
will normally enforce the Regulations so far as they apply
to other articles of food. Local Authorities are not precluded
from taking action with regard to such other articles, but
in order to avoid any duplication it is desirable that wherever
they propose to take samples of any such article or to
initiate proceedings in connection with its importation they
should notify the local Officer of Customs and Excise. Under
Article 9 (3) an officer of a Local Authority must in certain
circumstances obtain the consent of the Officer of Customs
and Excise before taking a sample.
One of the recommendations of the Departmental Committee
was, that any prohibitions or limitations imposed by
Regulations should bind the Courts in proceedings taken
under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. The Committee
went on to say:—
"If this were done, traders and the public generally would know
what was permissible and what was not, and there would be no
conflict of expert evidence on the question whether the amount of
preservative or colouring matter was or was not injurious to health.
The only point at issue would normally be whether the preservative
or colouring matter found in the food, or the amount of it, was in
contravention of the Regulations. A change in the law in this