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36
Vestry by Inspector Lapworth. The magistrate, however,
ruled that the label was sufficient protection in the case of
coffee. This is an unfortunate decision, since it allows coffee
vendors in this parish to sell as coffee a mixture containing
any amount of chicory if only somewhere on the packot are
the words "Sold as a mixture." Such packets are frequently
covered with advertisements of the other goods of the
establishment, so that, without carefully reading through the
whole of it, the notice of adulteration may bo missed. In the
case of children, blind people, and those unable to road, it is
absurd to call this a notice. Coffee is the only article in
which such a loop-hole for adulteration is tolerated. A
prosecution for the adulteration of a sample of milk. No. 1/14,
commenced last quarter, was concluded in this. The vendor
disputed the correctness of my analysis; but on reforence to
Somerset House, the chemists there upheld my conclusions.
Tho vendor was accordingly fined £5 and costs. A total of
£7 for fines has been paid into the Vestry's account this
quarter.
I remain
Your obedient Servant,
ALF. W. STOKES, F.C.S., F.I.C.,
Public Analyst.