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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ANALYST
APPOINTED UNDER THE SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACT.
TO THE BOARD OF WORKS OF THE ST. GILES
DISTRICT.
Gentlemen,—
During the year ending on the 31st of last March I
received from your Inspector, Mr. Hoyle, 274 samples for analysis,
consisting of bread, butter, flour, cocoa, coffee, milk, condensed milk,
arrowroot, corn-flour, preserved peas, porter, pickles, lard, mustard,
vinegar, and Cayenne-pepper. Of these samples 22 were found to
be adulterated, that is, 8 per cent. of the whole number. This proportion
of adulterated articles compares favourably with those of
previous years, and especially as the number above given includes
some cases in which there was but slight evidence of adulteration,
and in which, therefore, further proceedings were not taken. The
great bulk of the cases of adulteration are still those of milk. There
have also been several cases of adulterated butter, in which the
material sold under that name has been made up either wholly or
partially of other fat than butter-fat. Large quantities of fat are
now specially prepared for use as a substitute for butter, and are sold
under the name of butterine or bosh. The best samples of this
prepared fat are wholesome and not unpalatable, but they are inferior
to good genuine butter, and should only be sold under a name that
would distinguish them from true butter, and at a price considerably
below that of butter. Only a few samples of beer have been analysed
during the past year, and in these no evidence of adulteration has
been found. There is reason to believe, however, that a large proportion
of the beers sold at public-houses are not, when sold, in the
state in which they were received from the breweries. It is, I