VALUE OF STANDARDS

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 109, 1 February 1940, Page 7

VALUE OF STANDARDS

Supply Of Foods And Stores

IMPORTANCE EMPHASIZED During recent, years the importance of standardization had been emphasized, and organizations for promoting standardization were actively at work in many countries, said Mr. It. L. Andrew in a paper read at the annual meeting of the New Zealand branch of the institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland in Wellington. "When in 1909 the Department of Health began a campaign for improving milk supplies, the state of the Wellington supply was deplorable.” Mr, Andrew proceeded. "It was not unusual for milk to be sold containing 30 |H-r cent, added water: it was often dirty, sometimes skimmed, often stale, and often treated with preservatives, and, when pasteurized, the process was carried out in such a manner that the milk was made more instead of less dangerous. Today we have a very different stale of affairs, and it is safe to say that the quality of oilr Wellington supply is on the whole equal to that of any other city in the world. “The laboratory, through adopting the best methods of analysis, principally the freezing point and reductase tests, has in no small degree contributed to this improvement, as its Hildings enabled the Department of Health to enforce its standards. However, many other important factors have operated—one, in particular, being the wisdom of the manager of the city milk depot in buying his supplies to comply with a high standard and paying on grading for fat and bacteriological condition. All milk falling below the agreed on standards is rigorously excluded. “As it would not illustrate any other special factors in connexion with standardization. I will not deal with any other foods except to say that

through the enforcement of the standards of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act for the last 30 years, the sale of wilfully adulterated food is practically non-existent. '“As in the case of foods, there is now little deliberate adulteration of drugs, ’rills is due in part to the enforcement. of standards, but also due to the fact that most of them are produced or prepared t.o comply with rigid works standards. “I will just mention the importance of purchasing stores to specification. It is the practice of the Government departments to purchase their supplies to conform to spci-ilications. The scope of Ibis work is extending year by year and results in considerable economies. The standard speeilicafiotis issued by lite British Standards Institute are essential for this work ami these are being supplemented where necessary by standards prepared by I lu- New Zealand Standards institute, which is. as you are no doubt aware, a very active organization. One of the prime objects of testing materials to a specification is to ensure that the purchaser shall -pi what he asks for. timl know what he is geltlug. An essential phase of Stu nda rdiz.-i l ion is that, where the eltotnii’al coinpos|| bm of material is unimportant. it should lie declared by the seller."