Search results

Modern industry depends extensively upon the accurate conveyance of information. Much of this information, since it affects directly the quality of the products involved, requires to be precise and unambiguous. It must also be capable of interpretation by a wide range of personnel, sometimes irrespective of language barriers. The engineering drawing meets these requirements, since it is a visual system that is related directly to the shapes to be defined.

Gives an in depth view of the strategies pursued by the world’s leading chief executive officers in an attempt to provide guidance to new chief executives of today. Considers the marketing strategies employed, together with the organizational structures used and looks at the universal concepts that can be applied to any product. Uses anecdotal evidence to formulate a number of theories which can be used to compare your company with the best in the world. Presents initial survival strategies and then looks at ways companies can broaden their boundaries through manipulation and choice. Covers a huge variety of case studies and examples together with a substantial question and answer section.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

I think that psychologically it is most important that, as long as possible, every effort should be made to maintain the supply of foods enabling dishes of an attractive character to be produced. The morale of the big cities must be maintained, and as a large proportion of the population in these cities takes at least one meal a day in a public eating‐place, and, moreover, as the housewife relies on the pastrycook for an ever increasing proportion of her non‐basic foods, not to mention the basic foods themselves, every effort must be made to maintain producers of foods in such a position that they are able to supply cakes, confectionery, biscuits and so on. And in suggesting this I am being a realist; I have experienced the depression of the “ Berliner ” when it became impossible for this kind of food to be bought except by the very rich or the very powerful. It is, in fact, not sufficient to provide the necessary calories, the necessary vitamins, the necessary “trace” elements, as the Americans have called them; the method of presentation must be studied, for this is of vital importance in the maintenance of good health. From the scientific point of view it is deplorable that six months had to pass before the Ministry of Food appointed a scientific adviser. Dr. Drummond's influence in that capacity should help to straighten out some of the muddles into which the Ministry have apparently been led. It is obvious that our vaunted preparedness did not extend to the realm of food. One important point must be borne in mind, namely, that although the Ministry did not appoint a scientific adviser until February, 1940, they had at their disposal the experts of the Food Investigation Board and of those research associations in food science which I have already mentioned. Possibly, therefore, the Ministry would consider that it was sufficiently well served, and that these bodies would have been able to produce the briefs on which the Minister could plead. But the Food Investigation Board—and I am speaking as an exmember of that body—is essentially equipped for long‐distance research work, and not for the solution of problems of immediate importance. No one has greater respect for the work of fundamental importance which the staff of the Food Investigation Board have produced than I, but except for practical problems concerned with a limited number of food products—beef tendering, bacon curing, fruit preservation—they are not in direct touch with practice. It has been a very sound policy to restrict the activities of their staffs to the solution of problems of fundamental nature, the results of which, when published, would be applied to practical problems by the chemists attached to foods producing firms. I cannot pass from this section without comment on the very admirable statement of certain aspects of the work of the Research Associations clearly expressed by the Director of the Research Associations of British Flour Millers, Dr. Moran, in the journal Milling recently. He gives in a few clear sentences his understanding of the functions of a research association. His words are: “The research association has four clear functions: (1) as a sentinel of progress and development not only in this country but throughout the world; (2) to carry out continuously research which the individual miller—certainly the small miller—could not undertake; (3) to deal with the day‐to‐day problems of members; (4) generally to improve the efficiency of the industry and the quality of its products by the greater application of scientific methods.” The degree to which these functions are realised by any association is an excellent yardstick by which to measure its success. The milling industry of the country is to be congratulated that the director of their research association has such definite ideas, and the country as a whole is to be congratulated that the council of at least one research association in food is sufficiently alive to the importance of their duties to allow such statements as I have quoted to be published. It certainly stimulates interest and confirms the faith which should be placed in science as applied to a basic industry. The food manufacturer has, naturally, been rationed in respect of raw materials, as have been the members of the public. Fats, sugar and meat have been available in decreased quantities, but with the advent of rationing a distinct lessening of wastage of food follows and no real difficulties of shortage have become apparent. The attention of chemists has however, been directed to “ alternatives.” I object to the word “ substitute,” because in the minds of the majority this suggests something inferior. In many cases the alternative is to use something more expensive, something which under normal conditions would not be used. For example, at the moment glucose, more expensive than cane sugar, has taken the place of a portion of the usual sugar; lactose, the sugar of milk, is being used although it costs about twice as much as cane sugar and has a sweetening power far below that of the usual sugar. But sugars are not only used for sweetening, as so many people seem to think. Their presence in a cake or other bakery product has a most important chemical or physicochemical action on the gelatinisation of the starch of the flour, and an adequate amount of sugar is therefore essential if the character of the product is not to be impaired. The use of alternatives is not to be confused with sophistication; the replacement of non‐available constituents must be differentiated from the dressing‐up of one thing to make it look like another. The artificial colouring of a cake with a brown colour and the description of the resultant product as a chocolate cake, is to be condemned, although such a cake may be as nutritious as the cake to which chocolate powder had been added. The caffeine of coffee and tea is of importance in giving a slight feeling of stimulation to the tired worker, and therefore roasted cereals, as supplied in Germany during the last war, and again to‐day, cannot be considered alternatives for coffee, neither can mixture of fruit leaves take the place of tea. It is to the scientist that Germany owes the development of her substitute and alternative foods. These substitutes and alternatives are far better than those Germany had in 1914–18, because very early on she enlisted her chemists, or rather those who had not been expelled, into the service of her Four Year Food Plan. Chemical research in the totalitarian states is in practice Government‐controlled—in practice only because in theory there has been no bar to private investigation—but the Four Year Plan in Germany as applied to food entailed the direction of food investigations by State officials and although not so obvious in Italy, the same thing obtained there for a number of years. The natural outcome is control of food production. An interesting example is to be found in the tomato‐growing districts in Italy. Through the research station at Parma the farmers and the factories dealing with tomatoes are definitely directed. The former are told what seed to plant, how much, how to till their land, how to manure it, when to gather their crops, how much to gather, the quantity to pack as fresh fruit, the quantity to send to the factories to be made into purée.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

Elsewhere in this issue we review the First (Interim) Report of the Joint Survey of Pesticide Residues in Foodstuffs, published by the Association of Public Analysts (Editor: Mr. D. G. Forbes, B.Sc., F.R.I.C.). The Scheme, planned with meticulous care and executed with the best spirit of co‐operation, sets a pattern for this type of investigation; there are other problems which could be studied in the same manner. Such a response from the bodies representing the major local authorities of the country and their food and drugs administrations—inspectors, food sampling officers, public analysts—is evidence of the concern felt over this particular form of contamination of food. It constitutes a public health problem of world‐wide dimensions. The annual reports of public analysts show that many are examining foods outside the Survey lists now that gas/liquid chromatography, spectroscopy and other highly refined methods of analysis are available to them.

The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal took great pains to interpret the intention of the parties to the different site agreements, and it came to the conclusion that the agreed procedure was not followed. One other matter, which must be particularly noted by employers, is that where a final warning is required, this final warning must be “a warning”, and not the actual dismissal. So that where, for example, three warnings are to be given, the third must be a “warning”. It is after the employee has misconducted himself thereafter that the employer may dismiss.

The manifesto of the Jam Section of the Food Manufacturers' Federation which was issued to the trade and to the public in October is a document which has been subjected to much unfavourable criticism by various persons for various reasons. In our opinion it fully deserves the censure it has received. It need hardly be pointed out that jam of some kind is eaten by everybody. The annual production in this country is enormous. As a combined food and stimulant for young children jam is probably unrivalled; indeed, we cannot imagine a substitute for it. “Jam is a ready means of providing carbohydrates, and children require much carbohydrate in proportion to their size.” All this, however, assumes that jam is really what it claims to be, namely, a preparation of the fresh fruit that gives the name to the jam and sugar only. This, we take it, is the view of the ordinary man. If we turn to dictionaries we find this definition or something very like it in all the dictionaries that have been published during the last one hundred and seventy‐five years. The dictionaries of the 17th century seem not to define the word; its meaning, however, was well understood. Johnson, 1755, defines the word jam as “a conserve of fruit boiled with sugar and water”—by sugar of course meaning cane sugar. All the modern standard dictionaries speak to the same effect. Murray's Dictionary has “A conserve of fruit prepared by boiling it with sugar to a pulp.” The Encyclopædic Dictionary and Wright's Universal Pronouncing Dictionary have the same. The Century Dictionary says jam is “A conserve of fruit prepared by boiling them to a pulp in water with sugar.” Webster that it is “A thick preserve made of fruit boiled with sugar and water.” Funk and Wagnall's New Standard Dictionary, “A conserve of fruit prepared by thorough cooking and stewing with sugar, reducing it to a pulp.” It is unnecessary to give further quotations; they are all to the same effect and show what the purchaser has in his mind when he asks for a pot of jam at a shop.

We have observed in the reports of those engaged in the administration of the Acts several references to the practice of milking so that a portion of the milk is left in the udder of the cow, this portion being removed subsequently and not included in the milk sent out to customers. The inspector for the southern division of the county of Northampton reports that on a sample of milk being found deficient in fat to the extent of 17 per cent., a further sample was taken at the time of milking when a milkman was found to be not properly “stripping” the cows. He was warned. The analyst for the county of Notts writes: “The first strippings obtained before the milk glands have been normally excited by the milking are very low in fat yet are “genuine” milk in the sense that nothing has been added to or taken from it. It is nonsense to talk of genuine milk in the sense that everything that comes from the udder of the cow is to be taken as genuine milk fit for sale.” In a case tried before the Recorder of Middlesbrough, one witness said that among some farmers it was a common practice not to “strip” cows until after the milk was sent away.