BORIC ACID AND FORMALIN AS MILK 
PRESERVATIVES* 
By H. E. ANNETT, M.D., D.P.H. Vict. 
Thompson Yates Laboratories, University College Liverpool 
'There is no doubt that boric acid, if taken in large quantities, would be injurious to health, 
but we have not sufficient information to show whether such minute quantities as are generally 
added as preservatives would be regarded as having that eflfect ; and more exact information is 
wanted before it can be decided whether a process which, prima facie^ may be regarded as intended 
to prevent the loss of valuable foods must be held to be prohibited by law.' These were the 
words in which, in 1890-91, the Committee of Inquiry of the Local Government Board gave its 
opinion on the important question of the use of preservatives in foods. It is remarkable that 
' sufficient information ' on the action of minute doses of ' preservatives ' habitually taken, after the 
lapse of a period of almost ten years, is still not forthcoming. The most recent legislation 
indicates the absence of such information. Thus Article i, section 7, of the Sale of Foods and 
Drugs Acts, 1899, states : 'Provided that an article of food shall not be deemed to be adulterated 
by reason only of the addition of any preservative or colouring matter of such a nature and in such 
quantity as not to render the article injurious to health.' The 'Lancet,' at the time of the 
appointment of the Adulteration of Foods, &c.. Commission in 1896, urged the importance of an 
inquiry into the question of preservatives, and by means of the '"Lancet" Sanitary Commission on 
the Use of Antiseptics in Food,' published the opinions of the most eminent authorities of this 
country. These were unanimously of the opinion that the use of antiseptics in food was injurious 
to health ; but they could produce no direct evidence in support of their opinions. The Local 
Government Board have recently appointed a special committee ' to inquire into the use of 
preservatives and colouring matters in food, and to report (i) whether the use of such materials, or 
any of them, for the preservation and colouring of food in certain quantities is injurious to health, 
and if so, in what proportions does their use become injurious ; (2) to what extent and in what 
amounts are they so used at the present time.' 
The Use of Boric Acid and Borax 
Boric acid was introduced into medicine in 1702 by Homberg, as a sedative salt with 
anodyne and anti-spasmodic properties. In 1844, Binswanger, in the Munich Prize Essay, 
considered boric acid to be comparatively inert in its action, doses of from i to 3 drachms 
causing gastro-intestinal irritation ; borax also caused similar symptoms and often an impetiginous 
* Reprinted from the 'Lancet,' November ii, 1S99. 
