ADMIRAL FIELD (Sussex, Eastbourne)I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether the seamen of Her Majesty's Fleet are, supplied with two kinds of cocoa, manufactured by the Admiralty at Deptford, neither of which are pure according to the strict legal interpretation of the word; whether the cocoa issued for breakfast is compounded of 20 to 25 per cent. of sugar and 80 per cent. of cocoa; whether the cocoa issued in bad weather in middle watch, at option of commanding officer, and called "optional cocoa," is compounded of 25 per cent. of sugar, 25 per cent. of sago flour, and 50 per cent. of cocoa, in order to make it soluble in boiling water; if these figures are not correct, will he please give the correct percentages of sugar and starch and cocoa used in the manufacture of what is considered of excellent quality as a ration for the Fleet, and as such approved by the 544 medical department of the Navy; and, at what price per pound, free of duty, is Admiralty cocoa supplied to the War Department when required for issue to tro ops?
§ MR. E. ROBERTSONCocoa is no issued in the Navy, but two kinds of chocolate are issued: (1) the ordinary, consisting of 16 per cent. of sugar and 84 per cent. of cocoa nibs (pure); (2) soluble, consisting of 18 per cent. ofsugar, 18 per cent. of sago flour or arrowroot, and 64 per cent. of cocoa nibs (pure), the last being so mixed in order to allow of its being quickly prepared for use. Ordinary chocolate only is supplied to the War Office by the Admiralty for use in military prisons, and is charged for at rate book prices namely 64s. 5d. per 100 lbs., plus 5 per cent.