CANNED FOODS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 89, 14 April 1923, Page 7

CANNED FOODS

NEED FOR OFFICIAL CONTROL

FOOD INVESTIGATION BOARD'S

RESEARCH

(FROM OUS OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, 23rd February. , Dr. .\V. # Gr. Savage, of the Ministry ' of Health, who has bean making exhaustive investigations into the canned food trade, delivered the first of a series known as the Milroy Leotures at the Royal College of Physicians yesterday. Figures quoted for the year 1921 show the extent and importance of the industry. The amount of tinned food importeS and retained in this country was 22,500 tons of meat, 32,700 tons of fish, 88,500 tons of fruit, and 105,000 tons of milk. Taking the average tin as a 21b one; this would mean 278 million tins. Of these 41 per cent, came from South Africa, 30 per cent, from Australia, 12 per cent, from New Zealand, 11 per cent, from tfte United States, and 2 per cent, from Canada.

The lecturer explained how difficult it was t° detect, from an inspection of the canned articles, whether unsound meat had'been used. The flesh of an animal might show no signs of disease while the internal organs might be seriously affected. The necessity of Government inspection during the canning process was therefore evident, and the need for some form of certificate showing that the material used was up to standard. ■ He had recently been in Chicago and had seen the careful supervision exercised in tha factories there. In each of the great buildings where the animals were passed round from worker to worker there were always at least four, inspectors. Each one inspected a certain portion of the animal, and if there was any doubt, as to its perfection a I label would be attached, the carcase I would be side-tracked, and left for further inspection. The organisation which did the work of inspection had. 2500 men continually engaged. SYSTEM OF CONDEMNATION. It was certainly desirable that the owners of all canned good admitted in : to this country should be compelled to supply information of the consignment, sivins the source, nature of the food packed, and the quantity. There were no regulations here dealing specially with the supervision of aanned foods, or any other official documents setting out ■ the criteria, which should govern, their I condemnation. They could be and were dealt with under .the,laws which govern-, ed food generally.' If food came into the Port of London Docks, the Port of London Authority was responsible for its inspection. If it came to a wharf the. local authority in whose district the wharf was located was responsible; if it was landed by barge the local authority in whose district £he wharf was where the food was eventually landed was responsible. Officers of the wharf owners were experts in detecting damaged tins, but they were not able to detect whether the contents! were sound or unsound. There was need for complete investigation, but there did not appear to any legislation to provide for this. The inspection was merely for the benefit of the consignees and not for the protecti6n of the public. In a series of experiments tha Food Investigations Board had taken a quantity of tins reported unsound by the inspectors. VThe inspectors had given their judgment on each of these tins and theboard had subsequently examined them to ascertain- the degree of accuracy of these_ judgments. It was found on reexamination that the inspectors seldom passed an.unsound tin, but so far as the contents were concerned they had condemned; a very large percentage of sound food. .This, of course, led to enormous wastage. ABUSES OF LABELLING-. The matter of labelling > was also unsatisfactory. Unlabelled food was imported into the country, and this was distributed tt> a number of firms, each of which put on its own fancy label. It was, therefore, impossible to trace the origin of the food if found to be unsound by the consumer. Again, a certain firm in this country might acquire a reputation forcortain goods. They bought their goods from various sources, and put their own labels on. One label thus covered a variety of makes and was no guarantee the contents were sound or consistent. The lecturer thought it should be compulsory that the date of canning should be s.tamped on each tin. Against | this the trade was greatly opposed as it was thought the public in their ignorance jwould be averae to eating food whioh appeared to be comparatively old, even though the contents were in perfect condition.

Under present regulations certain abuses were possible and not unknown* Tins which had been damaged T*p eea water were sometimes bought up. the rust .was scraped off. and new labels attached. There was no guarantee . that many of these tins would not have pin point holes in them. Then there was the matter of the disposal of rejected consignments. A quantity of food thus bought ub ostensibly for pie feeding or for fat extraction might be picked over and the apparently sound tins sold for human consumption. Common action for a.more satisfactory arrangement.was desirable.