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86
These various facts were reported to the Ministry of Health, and
as the trade figures show an amount between £100,000 and £250,000
per annum, I suggested that a luxury food of this nature, eaten only
in small quantities, might well be excluded from the provisions of the
Regulations, provided always that the borax did not exceed a given
amount.
Further, I suggested that parcels of foodstuff intended for " exportation
only " or for " ships' stores " at least should be labelled as
such before arrival in this country.
DRIED FRUIT.
During the year 34 samples were taken at the wharves and submitted
for analysis. Of these, 17 were taken early in the year, 6 of
which were found to contain very much in excess of the preservatives
allowed, the worst cases coming from California.
The Ministry of Health were informed, and steps were taken to
communicate with the shippers in the country of origin.
Later in the year, when the Christmas fruit was arriving, a
further 17 samples of fruit coming from similar sources as the original
17 were taken and submitted for analysis. In no case was the amount
of preservative allowed exceeded, showing that our action in the first
case had the desired effect.
All the aforementioned samples have been tested for preservatives
by the Public Analyst.
51 food samples taken from cargoes landed in the Borough have
also been examined during the year.