DRUGS IN MILK AND BUTTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIX, Issue 11556, 18 April 1898, Page 6

DRUGS IN MILK AND BUTTER.

(Professor Long, in “Manchester, Guardian,'.') The employment of drugs for the. preservation of butter is,, apparently, about to give as much trouble as was caused by the excess of water which a year or two ago was present in many samples. A test case has now been tried in South Wales. Two samples were purchased by the police from two traders, one of which was found to contain 0.9 per cent of boracio acid and the other 0.8 per cent. It was shown by counsel for the prosecution, who handed to the bench two tubes containing boracic acid in exactly the quantity in which it was found in the butter, that in every pound there were sixty-three grains of that pure acid. One tube contained ninety-seven grains of borax, which was equivalent to the sixty-three grains. He showed also, and supported his statement by scientific evidence, that the properties of the acid, while antiseptic, caused indigestion and diarrhoea. Sixtythree grains to the pound is equal to nearly four grains to the ounce, five grains being a medicinal dose for an adult, according to the "British Pharmacopoeia. He believed seventeen to twenty grains to the pound to be ample for preservative purposes, any excess beyond that quantity being injurious to .tpe consumer. Another county analyst in South Wales had.nonobjection to twenty grains to the pound, but he had found thirty-five grains, to be the .average present in 292 samples which he had analysed. He had taken as an experiment live grains daily after breakfast, and on the fifth day had been attacked with a,form of irritation which he described as hiccough. He then desisted, and took it again after the mid-day meal, with the same result. He strongly objected to sixty-three grains to the pound, and would not permit anyone connected with him to consume it. Tne medical officer of health gave, evidence to the effect that boracic acid was undoubtedly injurious, affecting the mucous membrane of the stomach, the skin, and the heart. He believed that anything beyond one-tenth of one per cent was unnecessary for the preservation of milk, and even that represented grains to the pint, so that a child consuming a quart per day took l7i grains. He found that it affected, the skin and produced dyspepsia, giving an instance within his own experience in which the consumption of boracic acid produced eczema. This witness pointed out that preservatives of this land were not permitted to be used in France, but he was contradicted by counsel, who stated that every ounce of Normandy butter sold in London contained boracic acid, and that it was a mistake to say that it was forbidden in France. . Upon this point it may not be inappropriate to quote the evidence of Mr Otto Hehner, P.1.C., formerly president of the Society of Analysts, which was given before the Select Committee of the House of Commons. In reply to Sir John Leng, Mr Hehner said: “I had a conversation with M. Girard, the Principal of the Municipal Laboratory in Paris, and he said that it was absolutely forbidden to sell articles in France to which antiseptics had been added.” It would be well, therefore, if witnesses who make statements of this bind were to fortify themselves before entering court with some form of proof which would give point to whati they say. Dr Stevenson, of Guy’s Hospital, one of the first authorities in the country, who had declined to give evidence until he was compelled by subposna, said that the effects of a small dose of boracio acid had not been definitely settled by the medical faculty. He believed that fifteen grains might be given to adults, but he would object to anything beyond. He did not think that the best butter required more than twentythree grains, and he had stopped the supply of milk to a large establishment cause it contained boracic acid, and because, it enabled vendors to palm off stale milk as fresh.

It was urged in defence of the retailers of preserved butter that preservatives were not employed in order th'at grocers and others might be able to sell stale butter as fresh or to enable them to obtain a larger profit. It is difficult to understand how statements of this kind can be supported or maintained. The object of employing preservatives is to enable butter to keep for a longer period of time; without the use of the drug butter from abroad would be largely reduced in value, and would be rejected by the purchaser as rancid. The tendency of the butter to become rancid is checked by the use of boracic acid and similar materials. Hence, butter which is to all intents and purposes stale, is sold as fresh butter, because the consumer cannot detect the evidence of staleness, which would otherwise be marked. In the case of milk, acid is developed by the decomposition of sugar, but it is neutralised where preservatives are employed, and the consumer believes the milk to be fresh because it is apparently sweet. ' It cannot be supposed that the work of bacteria in either butter or milk is stopped by the addition of preservatives; hence it would follow that as acid is developed it is neutralised. Whether butter or milk in which chemical action is going on between the acid and the drug intended to neutralise it is as good and wholesome as perfectly fresh Tnillr and butter is a matter which will have to be determined by a long course of investigation. Most of those who have any knowledge of the subject say those who are imposed upon unfortunately include the vast majority of the members of the community. / If the recommendations of the Select Committee are carried out. by Parliament and a Board of Eeference is appointed, it might be left for that body to deal with a question of this kind. The chief objections to the employment of drugs are therefore, in the first place, that they are deleterious to health, and, in the second place, that their use, perhaps more than anything else, leads to increased sales of foreign produce in the butt er market at the expense of our own.