PURITY OF FOOD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 443, 17 December 1908, Page 4

PURITY OF FOOD.

Operation of the New Act

The operation of the Sale of Foods and Drugs Act, passed last session (says the Dominion), is giving a good deal of satisfaction to the Chief Health Officer (Dr. Mason). The Act empowers the Health Department to set up standards of purity for all sorts of foods and drugs, and prevent dealing in articles which do not fulfil the requirements. The department has investigated the standards of countries all over the world, with a view to forming standards for the Dominion. In a great many cases the English standards have been adopted, but occasionally, where there has been considerable trade in some articles not equal to the standard, but not actually injurious by reason of its adulteration, the standard has been reduced for the purpose of the local industry. The whole matter has required very careful handling, but a good deal has already been done, and samples had been taken of sweetmeats, vinegar, preserved fruits of all kinds, bread, milk, and brandies to see if they satisfy the standards. The department has tried to learn what are the current adulterants on the market, and has had to decide how far they can be prohibited without absolute injustice to the trader.

Eiquors in hotels have not been dealt with under this Act, but samples for analysis have been taken, from time to time, under an older measure, the Adulteration of Foods Prevention Act. Thereis a fairly general impression that all sorts of compounds are occasionally put in beer, for the sake of increasing the thirst and other objects. From time to lime specific allegations of this kind have been made to the Health Department in respect of certain hotels, and beer samples have been taken for analysis, but no worse adulterants have been found than water. About 60 samples of whisky were taken in Canterbury last year. The spirit was proved good, with the exception of a few samples, in which dilution was evident.