22 FOOD LAWS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



milk and butter examined were respectively 4,833 and 1,838. Of the 

 20,729 butter samples examined in 1908, 1,545, or 7.5 per cent, were 

 reported adversely; 1,273 of these samples contained foreign fat. 



Under the sale of food and drugs act, 1899, and the butter and 

 margarine act, 1907, the maximum limit of butter that may be mixed 

 with margarine is 10 per cent. In 1907, 31 samples of margarine 

 were collected from one place in Birmingham. Of these, 12 contained 

 from 38 to 83 per cent of butter. 



INSPECTION UNDER THE BUTTER AND MARGARINE ACT, 1907. 



The butter and margarine act, 1907, which is really part of the sale 

 of food and drugs acts, 1899, is administered by the Board of Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries. This act became operative on January 1, 

 1908, and at present there are three inspectors (not including the local 

 inspectors appointed by the town and borough councils) at work in 

 Great Britain to carry it into effect. These inspectors collect samples 

 of butter and margarine, together with a few samples of mixtures of 

 milk and butter. During the year 1910 a total of 459 samples were 

 taken. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries also cooperates with 

 the local inspectors who in some districts take samples under this act. 

 The samples collected under the act are sent to the Bureau of Inland 

 Revenue in London for analysis. 



In Ireland there are 4 regular inspectors who look after the butter 

 factories under the butter and margarine act, 1907, and 2 inspectors 

 who take samples from shops. Besides these, there are 10 dairy 

 instructors under the control of the Department of Agriculture and 

 Technical Instruction for Ireland, and these 10 have the power of 

 sampling. There are also 34 county instructors in dairying who are 

 under the supervision of the department, and it is probable that the 

 authority to sample will be extended to them also. 



SAMPLING UNDER THE SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. 



While His Majesty's customs, as far as the inspection force is con- 

 cerned, confine their attention to agricultural products (see p. 18), 

 it is found that analyses of these products by the local authorities 

 within the country is much more extensive. 



For the year ending December 31, 1907, J the total number of sam- 

 ples taken by the inspectors under the local authorities in England 

 and Wales under the sale of food and drugs act was 93,088. This 

 included 43,794 samples of milk and 17,845 samples of butter. Dur- 

 ing this same period 6,842 total samples were taken in Scotland, 3,455 

 of these being milk. 



An excellent plan is followed in the collection of informal test sam- 

 ples by the inspectors under the local authorities, and during 1907 



i Loc cit., p. 5. 



