Food adulteration and food safety in Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Weeds, heat and pure cultures – On the differential success of new technologies in the Danish and American creamery industries in the 1890s

“…DiVusion of new technologies in the food industry is more likely to be successful in cases where the market and the authorities are both supportive. Thus, government and private incentives for use of new and/or controversial technologies to increase food safety and quality face the same conclusion as reached by Collins (1993) regarding the raising of food standards: that economic factors are as important as the legislative and scientiWc. This conclusion may serve as a Wrst step in a more formal decision analysis on the problem whether a particular food industry should invest in application of a new technology.…”

“…As an example the opposition to pasteurized milk was wide spread in Europe and US in the early 1900s (Steele, 2000;Hotchkiss, 2001;Leisner, 2002) although the public debate about food quality and safety was prominent in the same societies at that time (Collins, 1993;French and Phillips, 2003).…”

Systemic failure in the provision of safe food

“…Given ample opportunities, it should be of little surprise that deception and fraud pervaded food systems. Collins (1993), looking at food systems in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the nineteenth century, documents the extent of food adulteration. Liquid foods were watered down by up to 50 percent, while condemned meat regularly re-entered human food systems.…”

Mid‐infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics for determining the type of fruit used in jam

“…Adulteration of food has taken place for centuries and has ranged from the simple addition of natural compounds to the much more serious case of contamination with harmful substances (Collins 1993;Patel 1994). Legislation concerning food, within the European Community, is becoming stricter and has helped to establish minimal standards of quality.…”