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White Milk Chocolate Cigars.
This was a confection made of fat, sugar flavouring and skimmed
milk powder. The Public Analyst was of the opinion that the manufacturer
was not entitled to use the description "White Milk Chocolate" as no
cocoa butter and only skimmed milk powder was used in their manufacture.
Legal proceedings were taken and the manufacturer was fined £20
with £5. 5. Od. costs.
Shredded Beef Suet.
This sample of shredded beef suet was found to contain 78 % beef fat
instead of 83% as required by the Food Standards (Suet) Order, 1952.
The statutory procedure for sampling at that time required the sample—in
this case a carton of shredded suet—to be divided into three parts, one of
which is submitted by the Sampling Officer to the Public Analyst. The
manufacturers contended that it was not possible to secure an absolute
uniform distribution between three portions of the sample of the suet and
the flour with which it is coated. This view is supported by a judgment
given in a similar case, an extract from which reads as follows :
"In shredded suet the methods of coating are not exact or ideal. The
quantity of flour blown on any particular shred or shreds, the
quantity which adheres, and the quantity which is only loosely adherent
and more readly detached, are none of them constant. In consequence,
each part of the contents of a container when divided into three
parts, may vary very considerably."
Two informal samples of this same commodity consisting of a complete
carton were subsequently found to comply with the Standards Order.
This sampling difficulty has now been removed by the Food and Drugs
Amendment Act, 1954 under which the requirement to divide the sample
into three parts is deemed to be satisfied if three unopened containers of the
food or drug are secured and each is dealt with as if it were part of a sample.
White Cake Mix.
The carton in which the Cake Mix was sold bore on the front panel a
large picture of a cake complete with "butter cream" filling and in the act
of being iced with chocolate icing. On one corner of this picture there were
also printed the words—"Nothing to add but water", which the Analyst
disagreed with because the ingredients were for the cake mixture without
"butter cream" or chocolate icing. The specification of the ingredients
appeared on the bottom of the carton and was not in a conspicuous and
prominent position as is required by the Labelling of Food Order, 1953.
The manufacturers contested the statement that the label was misleading,
but agreed to the label specifying the ingredients being placed in a
more conspicuous position on the package.
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