MOULD IN PIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 May 1944, Page 3

MOULD IN PIES

MAGISTRATE’S WARNING. AUCKLAND, May 15. “Mould is one of nature’s methods of giving warning that the food on which it is growing may not be fit to cat. It has always been interpreted that way by animals and normal human beings. Whatever exceptions there may be'a shop-made pie is not one of them, and he who sells a mouldy pie commits an offence.” This statement was made by the Magistrate (Mr. Luxford) in giving judgment in a case in which John George Hill was charged with selling food unfit for human consumption. Evidence had been given that a woman who bought a steak and egg pie from a city shop of Hill Bros. Ltd found mould inside it as she was putting it in her oven. A Government analyst had examined i'i, and had stated it was unfit for human consumption at the time of sale. A mocrologist at the plant diseases, division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, as witness for the defendant, had stated the mould on the pie was quite innocuous if eaten. _ The Magistrate said that this witness based his opinion on the ground that all moulds belonging to the penicillium group were harmless, but he had not examined the pie in question. The Magistrate quoted expert medical opinion showing that it was dangerous for people to attempt to produce home-made peniccilin from mould found on bread, cheese or other foods, and that many moulds so far studied had been shown to produce substances as harmful to animals as to bacteria, one having lately been advocated as rat poison, and the same was likely to apply to a legion which had not yet been investigated. The Magistrate said he was not impressed by defendant’s system of d,eal- , ing with left-over pies at the end of the day. Under his system it would be possible for some pie to be a leftover more than once before it was sold ; and that probably happened to the pie ■ in this case. : A fine of £5O with costs was im- ; posed.