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(v) Milk and Dairies Orders, 1926 and 1938: Inspection of Dairy
Herds.—Two inspections were made by the Veterinary Officers of the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The Ministry's Divisional Inspector
states that no cows were found to be suffering from tuberculosis.
(vi) Legal Proceedings.—25 complaints of the presence of foreign
bodies in milk were received and investigated during 1949. Legal proceedings
were taken in 11 cases, involving 2 firms. One was fined a total of £70 and
£7 7s. costs in respect of 9 cases, and the other was fined £20 in respect
of 2 cases.
(vii) Registration.—No application for registration was refused during
1949.
Articles of Food Surrendered.
During the year the following articles were surrendered and condemned
as being unfit for the food of man: —
Biscuits—½ lb.; Butter, Margarine and Fats—21½ £ lbs.; Cake—96 lbs.;
Cake Mixtures—25 packets; Cereals—104 lbs., 87 packets, 51 tins;
Cheese—136½ lbs., 63 boxes; Chocolate Spread—6 packets; Coffee—5
bottles; Cokernut, desiccated—390 lbs.; Confectionery—32 lbs.; Cordials
—7 bottles; Drinks, powdered—7 packets; Eggs (shell)—464; Egg (dried)
—12 packets; Fish (wet)—768 stone, 3 boxes; Fish (tinned)—524 tins;
Fish (paste)—1,690 jars; Fish (cakes)—123 cakes, 16 tins; Fish (shell)—
75 lbs., 4 bags; Foods, medicinal—39 tins, 3 bottles, 15 lbs.; Fruit
(tinned)—413 tins; Fruit (bottled)—2 bottles; Fruit (dried)—71½ lbs.,
25 packets; Gravy Mixtures, etc.—36 packets, 4 jars; Groundnuts—
80 lbs.; Jams, Preserves, etc.—229 jars and tins; Meat (fresh)—10 cwt.
106 lbs.; Meat (tinned)—601 tins; Meat (paste)—16 jars; Meat (pies)—
9 pies; Milk (malted)—4 tins; Milk (tinned)—1,756 tins; Pastry and
Pudding Mixture—112 packets; Puddings (Black)—59 lbs.; Puddings
(tinned)—143 tins; Pickles—197 jars; Poultry—-4 cwt. 68 lbs., 53
chickens; Rabbits—1 cwt. 106 lbs., 2 cases, 1 tin; Sandwich Spread—
629 jars; Sauces and Salad Dressings—81 jars; Savoury Cutlets—27;
Suet—42 lbs., 4 packets; Spices—1 packet; Soup (tinned)—279 tins;
Tomato Paste—2,827 tins; Vegetables (tinned)—958 tins; Vegetables
(dried)—1 box; Vegetables (fresh)—90 crates and boxes; Vegetables
(bottled)—180 bottles; Vegetable Sausages—25½ lbs.; Vinegar—1 bottle.
Foreign Bodies in Food.
10 complaints were received during 1949 of the presence of foreign
bodies in foodstuffs. All were investigated and legal proceedings were taken
in one case and a fine of £5 was imposed on the food manufacturer. Letters
of warning were served in 4 cases.
Food and Drugs Act.—During 1949, 256 samples (249 formal and 7
informal) of Food and Drugs were obtained; 5 formal samples and 4 informal
samples were not satisfactory as follows: —
(a) and (b) Milk (formal).—These samples were found to contain
10 per cent, and 6 per cent, of added water respectively. Legal proceedings
were taken against the farmer concerned and a fine of £10 was
imposed in each case.
(c) Beef Sausages (formal).—These were found to contain 160 parts
per million of Sulphur Dioxide, but no notice as to the presence of
preservatives was displayed by the vendor. A letter of warning was
sent to the firm concerned.
(d) Pastry Mix (formal).—This sample included 14.4 per cent, of
fat, which on analysis was found to be in a rancid condition and to
contain 45 per cent, of free fatty acids. Having regard to the rancid
condition of the fat the analyst considered the preparation to be unfit
for human consumption. A letter of warning was sent to the firm
concerned.