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In the case of Tomato Juice, the U.S.A. tolerance is 20% fields positive, the Canadian,
25%, and the French, for both "Standard" and "Extra" Quality, 30%.
In the area controlled by the Port of London Health Authority merchants were advised in
January 1963 by the Medical Officer of Health that many instances of excessive mould contamination
of tomato concentrates had been reported by the Public Analyst and that after consultation
with other analysts and with members of the trade it was proposed to adopt a maximum limit of
50% positive Howard Mould Count for the purposes of the Imported Food Regulations 1937 and
1948, but that in view of the difficulties which would be experienced by merchants in meeting
such a standard at little or no notice consignments showing a Mould Count of 60% positive or less
would be released for the time being, and in cases where samples showed over 60% positive a
letter would be sent to the owner suggesting that such goods should not be imported into this
country for sale for human consumption.
Copies of the letter were sent to other Port Health Authorities in U.K., and on 6th September
1963 a further letter intimating the intention to apply an upper limit of 50% positive Howard
Mould Count was sent to all known tomato product importers.
During 1963 a few consignments of tomato puree showing Mould Counts in excess of 60%
positive were detained by the Port of London Health Authority. From figures supplied by courtesy
of Customs and Excise the tonnage of tomato puree held amounted to 0.6% of the total imported
into the Port of London during the relevant months of December and January 1962/63.
In some quarters objections were raised to the adoption by the Health Authority of a limit
based on the Howard Mould test, and a conference was arranged by the Food Trade Review in
London in April 1963 between the Port of London Health Authority and the trade, at which both
sampling and testing procedures were debated at some length.2
Following this conference the validity of the Authority's detention notice on a certain consignment
of puree showing 72% fields positive was challenged by a large firm of tomato merchants.
Their action led to a summons under the Imported Food Regulations, reported elsewhere,3 in which
evidence of the Howard Mould Count was accepted and the view that a puree made from unsound
fruit must also be unsound even though sterilised was upheld by the Court.
The limit of 50% positive is now generally accepted by the trade and is included in the
recent Trade Specification for Tomato Puree, dated February 1967. It is indeed, understood that
the leading British manufacturers have for many years insisted upon a considerably more stringent
standard for their products.
The test had been applied in this laboratory to retail samples of puree and sauces submitted
under the Food and Drugs Act since 1948, but because of the difficulty of attaching the summons
to the person responsible for the offence action has, until last year, been confined to representations
to the dealers concerned. On April 1967, however, a prosecution against an importer under
Section 2 of the Food and Drugs Act in respect of tomato puree showing 75% fields positive was
successfully undertaken at the Sourt Eastern Petty Sessions by the London Borough of Lewisham.4
Samples taken under Imported Food Regulations
Results of Howard Mould Counts on samples of tomato puree, paste and concentrates submitted
by the Port of London Health Authority are summarised in Table I.

The above results have been collated from nearly 1,000 samples, and to avoid giving a false
impression of the frequency of high mould counts due to repeat sampling following each bad report,
only one mould count from each invoice being a mean when more than one sample was submitted,
has been included in the table. In other words, if a ship delivered consignments of four different
makes of puree at one landing and all were sampled, only four results would be shown above no
matter how many samples were examined.
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