View report page

for something like 100 years through the activites of their local Food and
Drugs Authorities and with the help of, amongst others, a small band of
public analysts dedicated to the work. There is no suggestion in the
Report that the Englishman's Food is not amply safeguarded.
The year 1962, has seen the passing of the revised and very up-todate
Preservatives in Food Regulations whjch considerably extend the
number and scope of permitted preservatives. With the modern way of
living the use of these and other additives would appear to be inevitable,
much as we may personally deplore it; and it is a trend which is world
wide. In this country we rely on the passing of Government Regulations
to control the number of such additives and to restrict them to definite
categories and permitted lists of chemicals which are only approved after
applying the most thorough tests that science can devise. Such Regulations
have been following one and other rapidly during the last few years and
it is the duty of the public analyst to ensure that any additions which
are made to food are on the permitted list and restricted to any maximum
quantities laid down. Considerable research must sometimes be carried
out before satisfactory methods of doing this are devised and an
ordinary member of the public would often be amazed at the amount of
work which must be done on a sample before the public analyst can
certify it as 'genuine'.
The comprehensive scheme of sampling carried out by the Public
Health Department of Sutton and Cheam ensures the protection of the
individual consumer in the Borough in a way which is unspectacular, but
none-the-less thorough and efficient.
MILK SUPPLY
Food and Drugs Act, 1955
The Milk (Special Designation) Regulations, 1960
The Borough of Sutton and Cheam is a specified area for the purpose
of the Milk (Special Designation) (Specified Areas) Order 1951, therefore
all milk sold in the Borough is designated milk.
The Milk (Special Designation) Regulations, 1960 came into force
on the 1st January, 1961 in respect to dealers' licences. These regulations
consolidated and re-enacted with amendments the Milk (Special
Designation) (Raw Milk) Regulations 1949 to 1954, and the Milk (Special
Designation) (Pasteurised and Sterilised Milk) Regulations, 1949 to 1953.
The principal changes are:-
(a) Dealer's licences (except for a few kinds granted by the Minister of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) are granted by the food and drugs
authority for the area within which are situated the premises at or from
which the milk is pasteurised, sterilised, or sold, as the case may be;
dealers' licences permit sales,oufside as well as inside the area of the
licensing authority, and supplementary licences are now discontinued.
(b) A dealer's (pre-packed milk) licence has been introduced which
permits the sale of all three kinds of specially designated milk, where
the milk is obtained by tlje dealer in the container in which it is to be
supplied to the consumer, or is pasteurised or sterilised by the dealer.
27