Food Manufacture
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FOOD MANUFACTURE Tol. XXI, No. 3 M arch 1, 1946 Self-Raising Flour Standardised out by a number of analysts, using the new tech nique, produced closely agreeing results. The ALLING attention, in our issue of October 1, upper limit of 0-65 per cent, for total carbon 1945, to an “ Unstandardised Standard,” we C dioxide is abolished and manufacturers may now referred to the confusion caused by the delays use as much bicarbonate of soda and acid as they occasioned by the lack of agreement among ex wish. This is important and many manufacturers perts as to the nature of reasonable and practical will play for safety and attempt to neutralise the standards which could be imposed on self-raising natural running down of self-raising flour by an flour. extra dose of ingredients. The limit for available The Foods Standards Committee had decided carbon dioxide is reduced from 0-45 per cent, to that the main criterion of a good self-raising flour 0-40 per cent. This is a useful concession, though was a guaranteed amount of available carbon not quite as much as the trade desired, but if dioxide. This was a reasonable decision, as the manufacturers make sure that the initial total car aeration of the cooked goods made from self- bon dioxide is not less than 0-60 per cent, and the raising flour depends on the amount of carbon acid and soda ingredients are properly balanced, dioxide liberated in the usual baking processes. the flour should (if stored under reasonable condi The point at issue was how much carbon dioxide tions) conform with the prescribed standards after should be specified. several months. It is evident that the rather out In 1944 an Order (Food Standards (Self-Raising spoken comments in our October issue have been Flour) Order, 1944 (c)) was issued which said that justified. Manufacturers of self-raising flour now self-raising flour should not contain more than 0-65 have a reasonable chance of keeping within the per cent, of total carbon dioxide nor less than law and the housewife guaranteed a product that 0-45 per cent, of available carbon dioxide. The will give her satisfactory results in the kitchen. fixing of an upper limit of 0-65 per cent, was due entirely to the desire of the Ministry to prevent unnecessary use of phosphates. The figure of 0-45 D ried E gg per cent, for available carbon dioxide appears to Withdrawal of the domestic dried egg allocation have been arrived at somewhat arbitrarily. The has been necessary to convince the public that they directions given in the 1944 Order for determining like the product. Until Sir Ben Smith announced residual carbon dioxide (on which figure depends that domestic supplies would cease on February 2, the available carbon dioxide) were so vague that few foodstuffs were more maligned. considerable discrepancies occurred in the results As a result of the storm of protest, the domestic obtained by competent analysts. The difficulties supply of dried egg will probably be resumed in caused by the conditions of the 1944 Order were May. The Government have placed an order in pointed out to the Minister of Food and fresh in America for 12,000 tons of dried egg (more than vestigations were instituted. A Committee con 86,000,000 packets) for delivery as soon as possible. sisting of representatives from the Ministries of The cost will be £10,500,000. America has con Food and Health, Public Analysts, Trade Chemists, siderable bulk stocks of dried egg, but the packets and Private Consultants met on several occasions have still to be manufactured. Negotiations are and faced the difficulties. proceeding for a further 6,000 tons at a lower price. Recommendations were made by this representa The cost of the 12,000 tons works out at approxi tive body which have resulted in an amended mately 2s. 7d. a packet, but the Ministry of Food Order (S.R. & O. 1946 No. 157) dated January 31, is expected to charge the same retail price as in the 1946. The new Order is much more explicit than past— namely, Is. 3d. its predecessor. Very complete details are given During the discussion the Minister admitted that for the determination of residual carbon dioxide, he had some bulk supplies of dried egg for the food ind we understand that a collaborative test carried manufacturing and catering industries, but no con March, 1946 91 M tainers in which to make these supplies available necessary nor desirable while the Ministry of Food to domestic consumers. He added that if he were retains control over the industry. The Board to distribute these bulk supplies to the public advocates direct payment from curers to pig pro there would be a shortage of pastry and other pro ducers. ducts that people were very glad to have. During 1945, £35,000,000 was spent on dried egg. A Year’s Work Sir Ben Smith has stated that to maintain the domestic supply at the same level during 1946 A comprehensive review of its work in 1945 has would cost £25,000,000. It would seem, therefore, been issued by the Ministry of Food, and covers all that the cost of the dried egg used by the food aspects of developments and activities throughout manufacturing and catering industries is some the year of victory. £10,000,000 a year. Attention was called in Parlia Faced with long-standing nutritional and dis ment to the relative claims of dried egg and tribution problems at home and mounting commit cinematograph films on the nation’s dollar re ments in the international field, Sir Ben Smith, sources. The fact is that in 1945 dried egg con speaking in the House of Commons on November 7, sumed just over twice as many dollars as did films. announced that the Ministry of Food would be a In addition to the American dried egg, 21,000 permanent Department. Meanwhile, the world tons from other sources, including Canada, Aus shortage of food necessitated a cut in rations late tralia, and Argentina, will follow. in May; this was followed by the cessation of Lend- Lease, a scheme which had from its inception financed the supply to the United Kingdom of Pigs Board wants Bacon Factories some 6 ,092,000 tons of American foodstuffs. A The Pigs Marketing Board has issued a long warm tribute is paid to the valuable assistance term pig marketing policy designed to remove received from the Dominions in response to the many of the defects that limited the value of the Minister’s appeal for bacon, meat, and butter to pre-war scheme. One of the main proposals is that maintain the British ration, without which it the Board should control the marketing of all pigs, would have been impossible to restore the cook whereas before the war only baeoners came under ing fat ration. Gift parcels from overseas also control and the bulk of the pigs produced were out helped to eke out the rations at home. side the scope of the Marketing Board. National bread was a topic for much discussion The Board proposes that the pork market should in view of the decision to reduce the extraction have first call on all supplies of pigs, but em rate of flour from 82j per cent, to 80 per cent., phasises that the consumer demand for pork and and the conference convened by the Ministry in bacon should be the only limit to pig production January, 1945, and attended by representatives of in this country. Regulation of imports, guaranteed the milling, baking, and flour-importing industries, prices related to costs, and rationalisation of the the Medical Research Council, and the Government bacon and pork industries are considered essential Departments concerned, published in October a to the post-war efficiency of the industry. report which recommended the fixing of minimum The average distance that a pig travelled to a standards for vitamin B,, nicotinic acid, and iron factory under the pre-war bacon pig contracts was content in bread. about 110 miles. The Board suggests that, except A new scheme involving the use of instructional in a few areas, no pig should travel more than films dealing with the various aspects of food pre 40 miles to the place of slaughter. Baeoners would paration and cooking was begun in 1945 in col usually be slaughtered at the factory; but the laboration with the Ministries of Agriculture and1 view is expressed that carcases, rather than live Education. This was supplemented in December pigs, should be transported over long distances. by the publication of the Ministry’s own cookery Slaughterhouses in the pig-producing areas, to book, reviewed elsewhere in this issue. gether with refrigerated transport for the carcases, It is gratifying to note from the Ministry of are therefore suggested. The use of collecting Health’s report for 1944-1945 that nutrition was centres for pigs and of marketing contracts is con being well maintained, and that new low records sidered unnecessary. were, reached for child mortality. It is suggested An important point for the curing industry is that some of this improvement can be attributed that the Board considers that it should have power to the priority schemes operated by the Ministry to erect or acquire bacon factories in suitable of Food. areas. One purpose of this would be the obtain- ment of accurate data on factory costs which could be used to the advantage of pig producers in any The Income Tax Act, 1945 review of prices. Shrinkage losses in transit, effects The Income Tax Act, 1945 (to operate by the of carcase dressing, and grading are other points Finance Act (No.