§ MR. HENRY HOBHOUSEI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been drawn to the quantities of inferior and unwholesome teas imported into this country which are alleged to contain microbial products dangerous to health; whether the inspectors of the Board have power to seize, analyse, and condemn such teas, and to what extent such powers! are exercised; and if, in the interests of: public health, he is willing to institute an inquiry into the best methods of! checking the sale of such unwholesome; teas by determining some minimum standard of purity, and by securing a proper analysis of such teas before they are blended with other teas.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. WALTER-LONG, Bristol, S.)The Local Government Board have no definite information as regards the matters referred to in the first paragraph of the question. Under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899, the Board may in certain circumstances direct an officer to procure samples of tea for analysis. The result of the analysis is to be communicated to the local authority, and thereupon it becomes the duty of the authority to cause proceedings to be taken just as if they had caused the analysis to be made. The Public Health Acts contain provisions under which articles of food which appear to be unwholesome or unfit for the food of man can be dealt with by officers of local authorities. I am not at present aware of sufficient reason for any such inquiry as that suggested.