Modern British Legislation

MODERN BRITISH LEGISLATION In modern times the English parliament has dealt frequently with the subject of food adulteration. In 1725 and 1730 acts were passed prescribing a penalty for "sophisticating" tea; in 1718 adulteration of coffee and in 1803 of cocoa were the subjects of legislation; in 1816 the addition of extraneous colouring matters to beer and porter was prohibited. It was only in 1847 that brewers were allowed to make for their own use from sugar a liquor for darkening the colour of worts or beer and to use it in brewing.

All the laws hitherto referred to were mainly passed in the interest of the inland revenue, and their execution was left en tirely in the hands of the revenue officers. About the middle of the Igth century statements were from time to time published concerning the food supply of the nation and roused the attention of the general public. In 185o Dr. Arthur H. Hassall, had the happy idea of looking at ground coffee through the microscope. Eminent chemists had previously found great difficulty in estab lishing any satisfactory chemical distinction between coffee, chic ory and other adulterants of coffee; the microscope immediately showed the structural difference of the particles, however small. Hassall was in consequence commissioned by Thomas Wakley (1795-1862), the owner of the Lancet, to extend his examination to other articles of food, and for a period of nearly four years re ports of the Lancet Analytical Sanitary Commission were regu larly published, the names and addresses of hundreds of manufac turers and tradesmen selling adulterated articles being fearlessly given. The responsibility incurred was immense, but the asser tions of the journal were so well founded upon fact that they were universally accepted as accurately representing the appalling state of the food supply. As instances may be cited, that of 34 samples of coffee only three were pure, chicory being present in 31, roasted corn in beans and potato-flour each in one ; of 34 samples of chicory, 54 were adulterated with corn, beans or acorns; of 49 samples of bread, every one contained alum; of 56 samples of cocoa, only eight were pure; of 26 milks, 14 were adulterated; of 28 cayenne peppers, only four were genuine, 13 containing red-lead and one vermilion; of upwards of ioo sam ples of coloured sugar-confectionery, 5g contained chromate of lead, i i gamboge, 12 red-lead, six vermilion, nine arsenite of copper, and four white-lead.

First Measures.

In consequence of the Lancet's disclosures a parliamentary committee was appointed in 1855, the labours of which resulted in 186o in the Adulteration of Food and Drink Act, the first act that dealt generally with the adulteration of food. As the act, however, left it optional to the district authori ties to appoint analysts or not, and did not provide for the appointment of any officer upon whom should rest the duty of obtaining samples or of prosecuting offenders, it virtually re mained a dead letter till 1872, when the Adulteration of Food and Drugs Act came into force, prescribing a penalty not exceeding iso for the sale of injurious food and, for a second offence, im prisonment for six months with hard labour. Inspectors were empowered to make purchases of samples to be submitted for analysis, but appointment of analysts was still left optional. The definition of an adulterated article given in that act was essentially that still accepted at the present time, namely, "any article of food or drink or any drug mixed with any other substances, with intent fraudulently to increase its weight or bulk, without declara tion of such admixture to any purchaser thereof before delivering the same." The adoption of the act was sporadic, and, outside London and a few large towns, the number of proceedings_ against offenders remained exceedingly small. Nevertheless complaints soon arose that it inflicted considerable injury and imposed heavy and undeserved penalties upon some respectable tradesmen, mainly owing to the "want of a clear understanding of what does and does not constitute adulteration," and in some cases to con flicting decisions and the inexperience of analysts.

Again a parliamentary committee was appointed which took a mass of evidence, the outcome of its enquiries being the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1875, which is in force at the present day, subject to amendments and additions made at later dates. This act avoided the term "adulteration" altogether and endeavoured to give a clearer description of punishable offences. Also it made the appointment of analysts compulsory upon the City of London, the vestries, county quarter sessions and town councils or boroughs having a separate police establishment.

Endless disputes unavoidably arose, friction with manufac turers and traders, unfortunately also with the referees at the inland revenue, who for many years were altogether out of touch with the analysts. Conflicting decisions come to by various benches of magistrates upon similar cases, allowing of the legal sale of an article in one district which in another had been de clared illegal, rendered the position of merchants often unsatis factory. It was not recognized by parliament until almost a quarter of a century had elapsed that it was not enough to com pel local authorities to get samples analysed, but that it was also the duty of parliament to lay down specific and clear instructions that might enable the officers to do their work. This has only been very partially done even at the present time.

As many thousands of samples were annually submitted by in spectors under the act to the analysts who had been appointed in 237 boroughs and districts, a very large number of cases led to disputes of law or fact, about 7o high court cases being decided within 18 years of the passing of the act. While these cases re lated to a variety of different articles and conditions, dairy prod uce—namely, milk and butter—led to the greatest amount of litigation. It may seem to be a simple matter to ascertain whether a vendor of milk supplies his customer with milk of the "nature, substance and quality demanded," but milk is subject, naturally, to great variations in composition owing to a large number of circumstances.

Not many years after the passing of the Food Act of 1875 the sale of butter substitutes assumed very large proportions, and so seriously prejudiced dairy-farmers that, as regards these, an act was passed which was not exactly an amendment of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, although it embodied a good many provi sions of that act. It was called the Margarine Act 1887. It pro vided that every package of articles made in imitation of butter should be labelled "margarine" in letters i inches square. The Margarine Act is the first statute that makes reference to and sanctions the use of preservatives, concerning which something will have to be said farther on.

Administrative Difficulties.

In the course of 20 years of ad ministration of the Food Acts so many difficulties had arisen on various points, that in 1894 a select committee was appointed to enquire into the working of the various acts and to report whether any, and if so what, amendments were desirable. During three sessions the committee sat and took voluminous evidence. They reported that where the acts had been well administered they had been most beneficial in diminishing adulteration offences, but that wide local differences in the administration of the acts existed, and that in many parts of the country the local authori ties had failed to exercise their powers. The important question of food standards was considered at great length. The absence of legal standards or definitions of articles of food had occasioned great difficulty in numerous cases, but as no authority was pro vided by the existing acts that might fix such standards they recommended the formation of a scientific authority or court of reference composed of representatives of the laboratory of the Inland Revenue, of the Local Government Board, the Board of Agriculture, the General Medical Council, the Institute of Chemis try, the Pharmaceutical Society, of other scientific men, and of the trading and manufacturing community, who should have the duty of fixing standards of quality and purity of food to be con firmed by a secretary of state.

The committee's deliberations and recommendations resulted in the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1899. This unfortunately was not a comprehensive act superseding the previous acts, but was an additional and amending one, so that at the present time f our food acts run parallel and are together in force, rendering the subject from a legal point of view one of extreme complexity.

The act of 1899 embodies, with one exception, the most im portant recommendations of the Food Products Committee, the exception being the omission to institute a board of reference that might deal with difficulties as they arose, guide analysts and pub lic authorities in fixing limits for articles other than milk and butter, and take up the important questions of preservatives and colouring matters and such like. An occurrence which almost immediately followed the passing of the act showed in the strong est manner the necessity of such guiding board—namely, the outbreak of arsenical poisoning in the Midlands in the latter part of 1900.

In the month of June I9oo there occurred, mainly in the Mid lands but also in other parts of England and Wales, an outbreak of an illness variously described as "alcoholism," "peripheral neuritis" or "multiple neuritis." This affected about 6,000 persons and resulted in about 7o deaths. It was soon ascertained that the sufferers were all beer drinkers, and several of them were em ployees of a local brewery, the majority of whom had suffered for some months past. Although suspicion fell early upon beer, some considerable time elapsed before Dr. E. S. Reynolds of Manches ter discovered arsenic in dangerous proportions in the beer. Steps were immediately taken by brewers and sanitary authorities to ensure that this arsenical beer was withdrawn from sale, and, as a result, the epidemic came speedily to an end. In all instances where this epidemic of sickness had been traced to particular breweries, the latter had been users of brewing sugars—glucose and invert sugar—supplied by a single firm. The quantity of arsenic detected in specimens of these brewing sugars was in some cases very large, amounting to upward of four grains per pound. The implicated brewing sugars were found to have become con taminated by arsenic in course of their manufacture through the use of sulphuric acid made from highly arsenical iron pyrites. Strictly speaking, arsenical poisoning does not belong to the sub ject of adulteration. It is not due to wilfulness but to stupidity, but it affords a lesson which cannot be taken too much to heart, that mankind, by relying too much upon "science" in feeding, is on a path that is fraught with considerable danger. For there is hardly a chemical substance which has, directly or indirectly, come into contact with sulphuric acid that is not at times arseni cal. Recently, arsenical poisoning has been reported from con sumption of apples that had received a "summer spray" against insect pests.

To safeguard consumers, as far as practicable, the royal com mission made important recommendations concerning amend ments of the Food Acts. Pending the establishment of official standards in respect of arsenic under the Food Acts, they were of opinion that penalties should be imposed upon any vendor of beer or any other liquid food, or of any liquor entering into the com position of food, if that liquid be shown by adequate test to con tain one-hundredth of a grain or more of arsenic in the gallon; and with regard to solid food, no matter whether it be consumed habitually in large or small quantities, or whether it be taken by itself (like golden syrup), or mixed with water or other sub stances (like chicory or yeast extract)—if the 'substance contain one-hundredth of a grain of arsenic or more to the pound. The board of reference, most urgently needed for the protection of the public and for the guidance of manufacturers and officers, has yet to be created.