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Whenever possible condemned food is salvaged to be used for
animal feeding, but in all other cases, the food is destroyed by burning
at the Refuse destructor.
Twenty complaints alleging that food had been sold in a condition
unfit for human consumption were received during the year and
received full investigation.
In general the complaints showed that the high standards of food
equipment in shops and factories do not invariably safeguard food
from human carelessness. The exceptionally hot summer of 1959 also
produced an added need for proper food storage which was not
appreciated, until too late, by some food traders — fortunately,
relatively few in number.
Eight complaints referred to mould in food, and in every case
investigation showed that the turnover of stock had not been properly
effected, although the intended arrangements for the storage and distribution
of the products could not be faulted. Some carelessness was
evident in two instances in which a milk bottle from a first class
bottle-washing plant was delivered to the consumer without being in
a thorough state of cleanliness.
The most human error was revealed in the complaint of a cake
having a soapy taste. It proved that the baker had made a chocolate
fondant covering, and in order to avoid waste, had mixed in some
left-over lemon fondant. An enzyme in the lemon oil produced a
fatty-acid in the chocolate fondant with its characteristic soapy taste.
Although no legal proceedings were taken during the year, the
Council authorised one prosecution under the Food and Drugs Act,