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The Public Health (Meat) Regulations, 1924 have at last been replaced. At the time of their making, they were hailed as a great advance towards an adequate meat inspection service; that they have lasted for almost forty years is not an indication, however, of their success in meeting the needs of the situation. They were too much of a compromise with vested interests; the great obstacle was the private slaughterhouse and complete freedom of action by the butcher. Notices and hours of slaughter and removal of carcases were all designed to help the butcher and not the inspector. In districts with many private slaughterhouses, widely scattered, they made the work of an inspector honestly trying to inspect all animals slaughtered very hard indeed. These difficulties made certain that inspection at the time of slaughter or immediately after of all animals slaughtered for food could only be practicable in the larger centres.

This paper sets out to analyze the current global financial crisis that originated in the US subprime mortgage market through the lens of the Kindleberger‐Aliber‐Minsky (KAM) paradigm as set forth in Kindleberger and Aliber's Manias, Panics and Crashes, to first examine the bubble's origins in the displacement caused by the internet collapse, the subsequent US recession, and the aggressive lowering of US interest rates. It shows how these events, combined with other technological and regulatory factors, resulted in a US housing bubble fueled by the aggressive securitization of mortgages by many large financial institutions, a reduction in their credit standards, and a lack of regulatory oversight. In this way it assesses the prime players in the process in terms of motivation and performance.

The paper explores how the process peaked and began to unravel as cash flows at the base of the financial pyramid built through securitization slowed. Once the supporting cash flow came under pressure and was questioned, several major players went bankrupt or took tremendous losses. It became apparent that risk and innovation had been improperly balanced, a prime characteristic of the KAM paradigm. Indeed, greed, innovation, and technology had combined to substantially reduce credit quality and increase leverage, vastly expanding the likelihood of a liquidity crisis and a substantial drop in the value of asset‐backed securities.

The analysis then examines why this effect had significant global dimensions, unlike, for example, the Japanese real estate and stock market collapse or the US internet boom and bust. The analysis also shows how market reactions have been in line with what might be expected under the KAM paradigm. It also conforms with what Robert Shiller and Edward Gramlich anticipated and with normal bank behavior in a credit crisis.

The paper assesses the policy responses to the crisis and their likely success under a KAM paradigm analysis. The proposed remedies already include the aggressive fiscal and lender of last resort monetary responses typical of the KAM paradigm but regulatory measures too. Further, as KAM notes, almost all booms and crashes involve scandals and scams. So not surprisingly there has been growing recourse to the courts seeking criminal and civil remedies. Also typical of such a dramatic boom and bust, governments are examining regulatory and legislative actions to address the current difficult economic and credit situation and to make sure that similar things do not occur in the future. But politics and a US presidential election are driving significant differences in approach. Under these circumstances what can the lens of the KAM paradigm tell us about the actions taken or proposed and what is or is not likely to work?

Since the incident at Westminster Abbey last Christmas, Scottish nationalistic pride, or self‐consciousness, has been widely advertised. In many respects the existence of that attitude of mind does no harm to His Majesty's subjects in England and Wales. But now a genuine grievance against the Scots—which has existed for some years, though few people have been aware of it—has at last received publicity. It arises from the fact that several of the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, do not apply to Scotland—doubtless because the Scots had represented that they would be unacceptable. Among those provisions was Section 101, which incorporated with the Act the whole body of regulations, including those relating to preservatives in food, which had been made in pursuance of the Public Health Acts. Similar Regulations, it is true, do apply in Scotland, but a breach of them is an offence, not under the Act of 1938, but under the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act of 1928, which is wholly repealed so far as England and Wales are concerned. Recently the Corporation of Blackburn persuaded the local justices to convict a company, registered and trading in Scotland, of an offence against the Act of 1938 on the ground that boric acid had been found in biscuits manufactured by the company in Scotland and sold to a Blackburn retailer. The Scottish company was not prosecuted by the Blackburn Corporation but was brought in under s. 83(1) by a previous defendant. Counsel for the defence took the points that a Scottish firm cannot be haled before an English Court in respect of an alleged offence which, if it was committed at all (which was disputed), was committed in Scotland, where the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, is not in force. Incidentally it may be observed that the presence of boric acid in the biscuits was due to the use of margarine containing not more than the permitted percentage of the preservative. The magistrates chose to convict the Scottish company as the person to whose act or default a contravention of the provisions of the English Act was due. On appeal to the Divisional Court, the conviction has now been annulled, primarily on the ground that the Blackburn bench had no jurisdiction to hear a summons against the Scottish company. Section 83, like many other sections of the Act of 1938, does not apply to Scotland, except with respect to prosecutions under the Orders made by the Minister of Food under. Defence Regulations—for example, the various Food Standards Orders and the Labelling of Food Order. (See particularly Regulation 7(3) of the Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943, and Article 15(c) of the Labelling of Food Order, 1946.) Still, if Scotsmen insist on not being subject to the English food laws as a whole, it would be unreasonable for them to expect that those who sell food in England and Wales should be willing to be deprived of the safeguards which the Act of 1938 confers on innocent dealers who have been let down by their suppliers. The Scots may find that English retailers of food will boycott Scottish products. Provided always that nothing in this Article shall be deemed to apply to the sale or purchase for human consumption in England or Wales of the article of food distilled in Scotland and commonly known as Scotch or Scottish Whisky, if the food is so described in an invoice or on a label bearing the name and address of the distiller. The point of which proviso is to show that I am not such a nitwit as to think that anything that I write will deter or discourage any Englishman from acquiring a bottle of Scotch if he knows where and how he can get it.

A memorandum on the Nutritive Value of Milk by the Advisory Committee on Nutrition appointed by the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland has now been published with a prefatory note by Sir Kingsley Wood and Sir Godfrey Collins. The Chairman of the Advisory Committee is Lord Luke, and the members include Professor Cathcart, Sir F. Gowland Hopkins, Professor Mellanby and Sir John Boyd Orr. Its terms of reference are “To inquire into the facts, quantitative and qualitative, in relation to the diet of the people and to report as to any changes herein which appear desirable in the light of modern advances in the knowledge of nutrition.” The memorandum explains the high value of milk as an article of food. Analysis of its composition shows that milk contains protein of high nutritive value, energy‐giving nutrients, the known essential vitamins and many mineral elements and apart from its chemical composition it derived value from other properties such as easy digestibility. Many investigations have been made which justify the belief that the general health of the community, and especially of children, would be improved, and the incidence of disease, including rickets, diminished, if the present consumption of liquid milk, averaging about 0.4 pint per head per day, could be increased to about a pint. Milk has few disadvantages as an article of diet. For infants, after breast‐feeding has ceased, it should form the bulk of the diet, with any necessary supplements to furnish iron and vitamins C and D. After infancy milk is not a complete food but a very important item in diet, particularly for children, who should be given one to two pints a day, and for expectant and nursing mothers, for whom about two pints a day are desirable. Other adults, who need milk especially for the sake of its calcium and animal protein, should have at least half a pint a day. Milk is unfortunately liable to contamination by disease‐producing bacteria and its heating by suitable methods such as pasteurisation has important advantages in making it safe for human consumption from this point of view. Moreover, when milk is treated by heat, little significant change is known to occur in its nutritive properties, and such deficiencies as may be caused can readily be made good. It is therefore reasonable to assume that raw milk incorporated in other cooked articles of diet, such as bread and puddings, retains most of its nutritional properties. The report also calls attention to the degrees of nutritive value possessed by various milk products, especially separated milk. The memorandum is entitled “The Nutritive Value of Milk” and can be obtained (price 3d.) direct from H.M. Stationery Office or through any bookseller.

With regard to the output of canned food in European Russia, it is stated by Rubinstein that the statistics are not altogether reliable. We conclude therefore that they must be accepted with caution. If the accuracy of statistics in relation to the output of European Russia is questioned, then, we submit, those relating to Asiatic Russia and the Far East will be still more open to challenge. These figures refer to things done! What value in these circumstances must be assigned to estimates of what it is hoped will be done?

One of Her Britannic Majesty's Ministers hanging about outside the Council Chamber while it is deliberated within whether or not Britain is to be admitted to the not so Common Market must present a picture never‐to‐be‐forgotten. Public officers, of course, are accus‐tomed to this when attending selection interviews for appointments, but such experiences invariably make us feel a little like “poor relations.” The controversy of whether we are “in” or “out” then is settled—and we must be under no delusions—for a very long time. As we see it, the French want the densely populated area of Western Europe as an agricultural market for themselves alone. They appeared to be willing to let Denmark in, but they have no intention of letting Britain in to bring the vast Commonwealth agricultural exports with them, via the back door, so to speak. That is the position now and even when “all the kings depart”, it will not change.

At the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio I had the opportunity to present a new financial planning model to ALA's division officers during a seminar sponsored by the Committee on Program Evaluation and Support (COPES). We explored ways in which financial planning can help ALA's programmatic units gain greater solvency, offset possible fiscal fluctuations brought on by uncertain economic times, and ensure the allocation of limited resources to members' programming priorities.

A new aircraft windsheild cleaner is tough on dirt, but gentle to the delicate windshield finish.

‘WORK STUDY specialists of Europe—from both the Six and the Seven— are getting together in London this year regardless of what happens to other meetings,’ said Mr. R. M. Currie, C.B.E., President of the European Work Study Federation, in a statement on the forthcoming Congress of the Federation which is to take place at Church House, Westminster, from May 20 to 23.

Cooking depends on two factors, time and temperature, and the second factor, temperature, has to be varied according to the type of product. The problem of the chemist then is to define the time at the given temperature necessary for a pie of a given size to be cooked correctly to yield a product satisfactory both to the palate and eye and from the point of view of its bacteriological standard. Where the oven used is of the travelling type—a type where the goods are fed into one end of the oven, the base of which is a moving band, and carried to the other end where they are discharged—an instrument has been designed which records not only the temperature but also the rate of travel, thus indicating the two factors, temperature and time. For the successful control of manufacture there are two aspects of primary importance. A stock‐control demonstrates that as a result of the consumption of certain amounts of raw materials a definite quantity of finished goods has been prepared for sale. This control however does not ensure that all the goods so produced are of the same composition, for under‐consumption in some may be offset by over‐consumption in others. The laboratory activities ensure that this possible inequality of final product does not take place. Therefore a joint control by means of stock control and laboratory control ensures that not only is the correct yield of finished product obtained from the amount of raw materials used, but also that the goods produced are of uniform character and composition. Where such a system is in force not only is the operator controlled but also the factory management; for a process having been standardised by this joint control, no deviation is allowed from the issued manufacturing instructions. But it must be stressed that the correct interpretation of this method does not stultify the initiative of the management staff; they still can make experiments, can still suggest alterations, but not until their suggestions have been incorporated in the official control can any changes be made in the method of manufacture. By constant attendance of chemists in the factory, by constant sampling of food in process of manufacture, by continued analysis and examination of the final product and by the stock control, the adherence to agreed recipes is assured. As mentioned previously the chemist is the interpreter of the art of the technician, but he is more than that. The dietitian can indicate what in calories, in vitamins and in trace elements is necessary to healthful feeding, but it remains for the food chemist with the knowledge of the technical expert to translate these requirements into practical terms so that the food manufacturer can produce an article of diet such that the consumer eats it with pleasure, thereby obtaining the maximum benefit. Moreover, ideas come for new food products, for new methods of production from people daily in touch with the actual manufacture; many ideas are brought by people from outside and ideas are given by competitive articles. The chemist puts the idea finally into production form. A recipe from Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book cannot be applied as it stands to mass production, but the food chemist can often indicate those changes which will be necessary to translate such a recipe from the kitchen scale to the factory scale, from the scale of the gallon saucepan to the boiling tank with its charge of a ton weight. Investigational work is of a threefold character, for it is concerned with the modification and improvement of methods of analysis and control, with the study of fundamental chemical problems concerned with food materials, and with the development of manufacturing methods. Analysis for food control purposes must be very specialised in character. Whereas time is of little importance to the Public Analyst examining, for example, a sample of chocolate cake to see that it contains the implied amount of cacao matter, the control chemist analysing a sample of fruit‐pie‐filling, with a whole batch of such filling awaiting his report, is concerned essentially with the speed of the operation. Every control laboratory has to develop methods of analysis suitable to the end in view, and every new process, every modification of a standard process, a change in composition of raw materials, may necessitate an investigation into the technique of the method to be used. Investigations of a fundamental character are not necessarily stimulated with the idea of ultimate practical use to the firm, except in so far as they develop the initiative, the experimental sense, the interest of the chemical staff. It has however been a noticeable fact that often ideas have arisen from fundamental work which have been ultimately of great use in the preparation of food products. Sometimes many years have elapsed between the prosecution of a piece of research work and the sudden remembrance of a small fact, a peculiar reaction, which has been made use of to simplify control or to change the method of a section of the process of manufacture. The transition from the kitchen methods of preparation to the manufacture of food on a large scale has demanded much investigational work. Mass production and mechanisation are not synonymous, but they are so closely related in the modern world that the one needs the other for success. Mass production demands mechanisation and mechanisation, to be economically sound, requires mass production. Mechanisation is not possible unless the process to be mechanised is understood; and it is here, in the food industry—as in other industries—that the chemist has helped industry to develop. The operator engaged in hand‐dipping chocolate centres is able, with her palette‐knife and mass of chocolate in a warm bowl, to work the chocolate couverture continually, the appreciate the changing conditions of the small mass, to correct by her skill any change of consistence and to produce thereby a product of very nearly constant appearance and composition. But when the unit of chocolate mass is increased from a few pounds to hundredweights, and when the centres in their thousands pass through a cascade of chocolate mass and are so enrobed, no such continuous adjustments can be effected. Consequently the chemistry and the physics of chocolate couverture have to be understood; the effect of time and temperature on the fluid couverture, the effect of forced cooling on the enrobed chocolates have to be studied. The chemist has to carry out experiments and to indicate as a result of his investigations the conditions which will ensure a really standard product. Examples could be quoted in connection with baking problems, with jam boiling problems, and in fact with problems from every branch of food production. Mechanisation entails the use of machinery and the metals of which the machinery is constructed may have an unexpected result on the product being manufactured. The question of this type of contamination is of two‐fold interest. In the first place, the amount of metal taken into solution, either by purely chemical reaction, or by mechanical abrasion, must not be such that it will have any adverse effect on the health of those subsequently eating the food; in the second case, the effect of minute proportions of foreign metals on the flavour or keeping qualities must be studied; for example, tea is never brewed in an iron pot because a chemical reaction takes place by which a highly coloured compound is produced and gives to the infusion a blackish colour. This is an instance of a chemical change which takes place immediately. An example of a different type is provided by the milk industry. The flavour of milk is delicate and easily affected, and one change which may take place in it is the development of a “ tallowy ” flavour. The chemistry of the reactions which result in the development of this particular “ off ” flavour is not well understood, but one factor has been investigated, namely the effect of certain metallic contaminants. Coolers for milk—and obviously all milk has to be cooled subsequently to being heated to pasteurisation temperature—are often made of tinned copper. In time the constant cleaning which is necessary wears off the tin in certain places, small areas of copper appear, almost too small to be noticeable—and the milk then comes in direct contact with this metal. Copper, present only to the extent of a few parts in every million parts of milk, has a stimulating effect on the changes which result in the development of the “ tallowy ” flavour. Yet another example. The metal of which cans are made for the canning industry is iron covered with a thin layer of tin. But canned goods are often kept for long periods of time. Sometimes the cans begin to swell, the ends become somewhat rounded in shape. That may be caused by a very simple chemical reaction, not concerned with any spoiling changes taking place, but due to the reaction between the acid contents and the iron; the active constituents of the contents have gradually found their way through microscopic pinholes in the tin layer and the gas hydrogen is the result, the generation of which becomes eventually noticeable by the swelling of the can. These three examples, the first immediately apparent, the second booming noticeable in a few hours, and the last which may not be observed for months, indicate different types of effect of metal on food stuffs. This last could naturally be very much expanded, but the obvious conclusion is that plant must be considered in relation to the purpose to which it is to be put. Mass production demands consideration too from the hygienic standpoint, for difficulties on this score are inherent in food production. Not only have the methods of production to be studied from this point of view, but consideration has to be given to the bacteriological condition of the basic materials. This is generally impossible in small scale production and it is obviously also impossible, no matter what the scale of production, for each and every tin of canned goods to be examined, or every milk pudding to be submitted to bacteriological tests, but experience of continued tests gives the clue to those factors which must be watched and the precautions to be taken. Government action has been taken in many cases. For instance, in the delivery of meat the implementing of the precautions required by law has resulted in meat reaching the butchers or the food manufacturer in far better condition than previously and has reduced wastage caused by bacteriological spoiling. Consideration of the condition of raw materials brings to mind frozen eggs. Science has proved that eggs properly frozen are far more hygienic than eggs in shell so far as the food manufacturer is concerned. Moreover it can be definitely stated as a result of a large number of tests that Chinese frozen eggs from reputable firms in China are of the highest standard possible. The freezing of eggs on the large scale in China has reached a magnitude and a standard not surpassed anywhere in the world. This has been achieved by application of methods based entirely on scientific principles. Mass production has entailed investigation of methods whereby the onset of spoiling can be retarded. A loaf of bread immediately it is cooled after leaving the oven, be it the kitchen oven or the travelling oven baking 1,500 loaves an hour, has certain characteristics of freshness. How can those characteristics be retained? Night baking enables the householder to receive first thing in the morning a loaf baked an hour or so previously, but mass‐produced bread entails distribution over a wide area and the hour or two may spread out to six or seven before the housewife receives her loaf.