G. G. Birch – författare

The Control and Standardisation of National Food Quality. There must be very many different opinions as to what this title means. To some people it will mean the control by legislation of additive and contaminant levels in food, to others it may mean the laying down of compositional standards for different food commodities, yet again some may consider that it covers the nutritional quality of the food and the maintenance of an adequate satisfactory diet for the population of the country. I think certainly that it could be all of these things and a glance at the variety of titles of papers which other speakers will be giving later in this symposium illustrates the very wide area which is covered by food quality in its many aspects. I will try only to present to you some of those aspects which are the concern of government in the control of food quality. I will not concern myself with those aspects which are the concern only of the manufacturer and his customer, and here I am thinking of flavour, appearance and physical state, such as whether canned, fresh or frozen. These aspects, which affect the type of products to be marketed, and also the aspects of quality control which set out to maintain the standard that the manufacturer has set himself, are I think outside my province.

The Control and Standardisation of National Food Quality. There must be very many different opinions as to what this title means. To some people it will mean the control by legislation of additive and contaminant levels in food, to others it may mean the laying down of compositional standards for different food commodities, yet again some may consider that it covers the nutritional quality of the food and the maintenance of an adequate satisfactory diet for the population of the country. I think certainly that it could be all of these things and a glance at the variety of titles of papers which other speakers will be giving later in this symposium illustrates the very wide area which is covered by food quality in its many aspects. I will try only to present to you some of those aspects which are the concern of government in the control of food quality. I will not concern myself with those aspects which are the concern only of the manufacturer and his customer, and here I am thinking of flavour, appearance and physical state, such as whether canned, fresh or frozen. These aspects, which affect the type of products to be marketed, and also the aspects of quality control which set out to maintain the standard that the manufacturer has set himself, are I think outside my province.

R. S. SHALLENBERGER Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Research Station, New York, USA Among the material to be discussed in this first section of the ''Enzymes and Food Processing Symposium'' is subject matter that can be viewed as a marriage between enzyme technology and sugar stereochemistry. In order to bring the significance of the material to be presented into proper perspective, I would like you to pretend, for a moment, that you are a researcher making a proposal on this subject to a Research Granting Agency in order to obtain financial support for your ideas. However, the year is 1880. Under the ''objectives'' section of your proposal, you state that you intend to attach the intangible vital force or spirit-that is, the catalyst unique to the chemistry of living organisms-to an inert substrate such as sand. Thereafter you will pass a solution of right­ handed glucose (also known as starch sugar) past the ''vital force'' and in the process convert it to left-handed glucose (also known as fruit sugar). The peer review committee would probably reject the proposal as sheer nonsense because the statements made were not only contrary to their experience, but also contrary to what they had been taught. Perhaps a few select people would have some feeling for what you were talking about, but commiseration would be the only form of support that they could offer.