298 FRAUDULENT COMPETITION 



Very little use has been made of this Regulations as to 

 Food Act, for on 17th February, 1914, Mr. Herbert Samuel 

 said, in reply to a question b}^ Mr. Barnston, that only four 

 Regulations had been issued under it, viz., Foreign Meat 

 in 1908 ; Unsound Food, 1908 ; Foreign Meat (Amending 

 Regulations), 1909 ; and Milk and Cream, 1912. 



Condensed Milk. 



In February, 1910, the Council expressed the opinion that 

 every tin of condensed machine-skimmed milk should have 

 printed in large type upon its label : " Unfit for infants and 

 invalids." This was sent to Mr. Burns (President of the 

 Local Government Board), who at once directed Dr. Coutts 

 to conduct an inquiry into the sale of condensed milk, with 

 special reference to its use as infants' food. Dr. Coutts' 

 report was issued in September, 1911, entirely corroborating 

 the view expressed by the Council the previous year. The 

 Department has taken no further action, in the matter, 

 although questions have been asked about it in the House 

 of Commons several times, the last occasion being by Mr. 

 Harry Barnston on 24th February, 1914. 



In 1913 Mr. Burns introduced a new Sale of Food and 

 Drugs Bill, which proposed to give even more unlimited powers 

 to his Department than the Act of 1907, but this the Central 

 Chamber, together with the London Chamber of Commerce, 

 strongly opposed, and it has not been re -introduced. 



The report of the Prevention of Fraud Committee upon 

 which the Council based its opposition to the Bill was instruc- 

 tive, and is worth repeating. The following are its principal 

 paragraphs : 



1. The Bill fundamentally alters the present law, giving power 

 to a Government Department to make regulations repealing 

 existing provisions of law ; it provides no safeguards for traders, 

 nor is there any appeal against any conditions which may be 

 contained in such regulations. 



2. The Bill gives the Local Government Board power to 

 make regulations defining all kinds of food, including agricultural 

 produce, and provides that if anyone sells an article to a pur- 

 chaser demanding any particular article of food which does not 



