Annual Report on Foods Examined by Public Analysts for Pesticides Residues during 1964

of work carried out by l8 different laboratories distributed throughout England and Wa1es. During 1964, l5l7 samples of lood were examined by Public Analysts for the presence of pesticide residues. As in previous years, the samples included both home grown and imported foodstuffs and were made up as follows:- Number of Type of Food Samples Fruit Tomatoes 840 142 Green Vegetables .. 122 Miscellaneous (Flour, Tea, Fat, Milk, etc.) . 113 -, The nature of the examinationi made and the re:ults obtained are shou n in the lollowing summarised results: Arsenicdl and Metallic Contamination Number of Samples Nature of Food 52 Fruit and Tomatoes Arsenic Lead Mercury 248 248 120 31 31 11 Potatoes Other Vegetables Miscellaneous Two samples contained lead and/or arsenic in excess of the statutory limits:- 1. Arsenic 1.8 parts per million Lead 5.0 parts per million 2. Arsenic 1’1 parts per million Lead Satisfactory One sample of Tomatoes contained mercury in excess of 0.1 part per million, r,2., 0 15 part per million.