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lerchandise Marks Acts, 1887-1953
Inspections were carried out under the above Acts to ensure that the requirements
of the various Marking Orders relating to the indication of origin
of imported foodstuffs are applied. Inspections were made at 204 premises and
a total of 799 displays were examined. Minor breaches of the Orders were dealt
with by verbal warning. No infringement was reported.
Safe Milk
From the 1st January, 1961 the County Council became the licensing authority
for the issue of licences to dealers with premises within its area and 45 such
licences were issued in respect of the sale of milk to which the special designations
"pasteurised", "sterilised" and "tuberculin tested" could be applied. The
period for which these licences were granted has been extended from one year to
five years. Fifty-five samples of milk were obtained to test that heat treatment
and subsequent storage were properly carried out. One was not satisfactory,
in that it failed the methylene blue test, This was found to be due to unsatisfactory
storage at the retail shop, The prescribed notice of warning was sent
to the shopkeeper. Fifty inspections of premises were made to ensure proper
compliance with the Milk (Special Designation) Regulations, 1960.
Labelling of Food Order, 1953
The Labelling of Food Order requires prepacked food to be marked with the
name and address of the packer or labeller or to bear a registered trade mark,
to be marked with its common or usual name and to bear a statement of ingredients
if the food consists of more than one ingredients It also controls the manner
in which the presence of vitamins and minerals is disclosed,,
A total of 134 premises in the Borough were visited and 1, 504 items of food
were examined for compliance with the Order. No infringements were disclosed.
Labelling and Advertising Infringements
In addition to the detail given above, a considerable volume of work was
done in the period under review, which did not arise from samples procured in
this Borough, but which had the effect of protecting the residents in all county
districts. The matters dealt with were in respect of nationally retailed articles
of food.
Several manufacturers were required to designate the ingredients on labels
of Instant Coffee, As a result of a complaint of the taste of a soft drink,
investigations made in the Public Control Department showed that there was
phenolic contamination which arose from a chemical reaction between chlorinated
water and the phenol formaldehyde stopper. The manufacturer has modified the
ingredients of this product to prevent the chemical reaction.
The manufacturer of a non-alcoholic wine was challenged on the ground that
the description was a contradiction in terms, and the label was amended to "nonalcoholic
beverage' .
The importer of a slimming food was challenged on claims made in advertising
literature as to the Vitamin concentration, and the literature was corrected.
A manufacturer" s claim of slimming properties for "reducing perles" was
challenged and the product withdrawn. The claim relied on the presence of
purgatives and bladderwrack
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