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312
It is awful to contemplate that on an average of the
whole Parish for a year, rather more than one vendor in five
has infringed one or other of the Acts governing the Food
and Drug supply.
Whilst guarding ourselves against hasty conclusions
it would be interesting to calculate what this amount of
adulteration meant on the assumption that the samples taken
represent a fair average of the Parish. We would thus get
some rough idea of the magnitude of the fraud that is being
perpetuated.
If we assume that Camberwell contains 230,000 inhabitants,
and that each of these inhabitants on an average
spends on food five shillings a week (a very moderate
estimate), it gives a food bill for the week of £57,500, being
£2,990,000 for the year.
Now 22 per cent. of £2,990,000 is £657,800, which
represents the money paid for adulterated food. The actual
percentage of adulteration found was on the average 33.,
which gives £219,267 as the estimated sum paid during the
year for adulterants by this Parish. This sum is rather more
than two-thirds of the total rates of the Parish. If this
adulteration could be absolutely stopped it would be
equivalent, as a saving to the Parish, to reducing the rates to
about one-third of their present amount. I have here
estimated the mere money lost, and have not attempted to
estimate in any way the loss of life and amount of illness
caused by want of proper nutriment to infants and other*.
On the other side of the account we find that adulterators
had to pay in all £51 in fines and costs.