19
REPORT OF THE PUBLIC ANALYST TO THE GOVT. OF MADRAS
Table No. 2 shows that there has been a
definite increase in the fines inflicted under
the Act following comments which were made
in my last Annual Report. Thus the average
fine for the whole Presidency has increased
from Rs. 9 to Rs. 13. In several municipali--
ties fines inflicted are still very much too low
for them to have any real deterrent effect.
In some of these cases I have called the at-
tention of the District Magistrates to the
matter and they have been pleased to issue
instructions, which it is hoped, will cause an
improvement in the future.
A number of further points arising from
the particulars given in these two tables calls
for comment. The percentage of adultera-
- t i o n h a s f a l l e n f r o m 4 3 t o 3 5 , l a r g e l y a s a
result of adulteration in Madras City—which
takes a large number of samples—having
fallen from 53 to 30. This figure should not
be interpreted as meaning that less adulterat
- e d f o o d i s s o l d . D u r i n g t h e e a r l i e r p a r t o f
the year under report food. vendors in Madras
discovered that they were immune from pro--
secution if when they sold a sample they made
a verbal declaration that the sample was
adulterated. This difficulty has now been
got over in two ways. New rules under the
Act were issued in September 1932 and in
connection with ghee containing other fat in
admixture, it is now obligatory on vendors to
label it with a printed label in the prescribed
form showing the composition of the mixture.
In the absence of such a label a verbal decla--
ration is now no defence. Further, verbal
declarations are usually only made to Inspec--
tors, who unavoidably become known in their
districts. This has been met in Madras City
by the employment, by the Inspectors, of
agents, who are frequently changed, to pur--
chase their samples, The procedure is that
the agent, who may be a clerk, peon or other
employee of the Corporation, makes the
purchase, pays for the sample and then
awaits the arrival of the Inspector who noti-
- f i e s t h e v e n d o r t h a t h e ( t h e I n s p e c t o r ) i s t h e
real purchaser of the sample and carries out
the usual formalities prescribed in the Act
for Inspectors when they are sampling. Out--
side Madras City purchase by agent has not
been generally adopted. I think this is un
- f o r t u n a t e a s t h e s m a l l e r t h e a r e a i n w h i c h a n
Inspector works the more certain it is that he
will be well known to the majority of food
vendors, who will, of course, take such pre-
cautions as they can to see that he is supplied.
with a genuine article. It seems to me
extremely unlikely that the low percentages
of adulteration shown in the table for Calicut,
Trichinopoly, and Virudhunagar give a real
idea of the proportion of adulterated food
sold to the general public. A much more
. likely explanation is that sufficient care has
not been taken to see that the samples taken
correspond with what is supplied to the
general public.
3-A
Summarized particulars of the action taken
by the various municipalities in connection.
with adulterated. samples are given in the
Appendix. In general, considering how new
the Act is, the results suggest that its
administration and the action taken in con--
nection with adulterated samples have been
satisfactory. In the great majority of cases
prosecutions have been instituted for adul--
teration, except, where this was of a trivial
nature or where, owing to the vendor
absconding, proceedings could not be insti--
tuted. Unfortunately there are, however,
one or two outstanding exceptions. In
Trichinopoly not only, as mentioned above,
has the amount of adulteration detected been
small, but further even when detected, pro--
secutions have not been invariably instituted
in connection with serious adulterations. Out
of 11 adulterated samples there have been
only three prosecutions. Five vendors of
very heavily adulterated samples were let off
with a warning. There will be no real im-
provement in the food supplied to the Pre--
sidency until fraudulent vendors know that
there is a very large chance of their being
caught and that when this occurs they will
be severely punished.
In Rajahmundry a caution was considered
sufficient in eight cases and prosecutions
which had been instituted have been with
-drawn in four cases. I regard the latter pro--
cedure as most undesirable. If in exceptional
circumstances it is found necessary to with--
draw a prosecution this should be done when
the case is heard, with the consent of the
Magistrate and for a good reason, which is
stated in open Court. Otherwise it is un--
avoidable that an impression will get abroad
that by bringing pressure to bear on the
authorities a vendor of adulterated food can
escape punishment.
Answers to my enquiries from the various
Municipal Health Officers suggest that in-
sufficient attention is paid to the following
up of adulterated samples. In my opinion
vendors who have been found selling adulte--
rated samples should subsequently be sampled
at very frequent intervals and. with special
precautions to see that the sample represents
the usual supply. The Act provides for
heavy fines in connection with second and
subsequent convictions. Following up is
particularly important in connection with food
vendors who have been warned. I think it
should be a definite rale that following
a warning, frequent samples should be taken
to see whether the warning has had any
effect. Action on these lines has been taken
by the Municipal Health Officer at Ootaca--
mund and has given very satisfactory results.
This Officer has considered, I think very
rightly, that it is a waste of time to take
many samples from petty vendors and street
hawkers while adulteration of foods is rife
amongst the more substantial shop-keepers.