Consuming Interest
A Chance to Complain
By LESLIE ADRIAN
The chairman of the Committee,, Mr. J. T. Molony, QC, has asked members of the public who wish to provide evidence to write, not later than March 14, to the Secretary, Mr. S. W. T. Mitchelmore, at the Board of Trade, Horse Guards Avenue, London, SW1.
The Committee thinks it may need to examine `the construction, wearing quality and (where appropriate) shrink-resistance and colour fastness of textiles (particularly clothing, curtain fabrics and upholstery materials), carpets and footwear; the adequacy of washing or cleaning instructions with clothing and textiles; and the performance and reliability of equipment and appliances used in the home.'
It is made clear that the Committee will not be able to examine complaints individually or in technical detail, but I hope it will be impressed by the volume of complaints. If the evidence be- comes available it will be very valuable material for existing consumer research organisations.
Seville oranges, the raw material of curacao, Cointreau and marmalade, are beginning to make their seasonal appearance in the greengrocers' shops. I have discovered that probably no more than a quarter of the oranges indifferently marked `Seville' actually come from there. Most are shipped from Palermo and Malaga. The true Seville orange has a coarse skin, a rather dirty colour and an irregular shape and size, whereas other, slightly cheaper 'bitters' are round and bright and could sometimes be mistaken for sweet oranges. Although they all make adequate marma- lade, it is the scruffy-looking fruit from Seville, not the handsome oranges from Sicily and Malaga, which gives the characteristic bite.
An article in a recent issue of Which? said, quite accurately, that jam or marmalade made with granulated sugar (8d. a pound) was no more likely to burn or deteriorate than that made with the more expensive preserving sugar (10fd. a pound). True, the flavour, jelling and keeping qualities of well-made jam are unaffected by the shape of the sugar, but the lumpy preserving sugar dissolves more slowly than gram lated and therefore spreads itself more evenly and gradually throughout tl contents of the preserving pan. This saves strei uous stirring and the possible risk of burnin Also, jam made with preserving sugar, being le likely to boil before all the sugar is dissolved, wI not suffer from crystallisation and its aftermat which is grittiness in the breakfast marmalade.
Ever since /Eolus tied the four winds up in bag, the art of packaging has been doing wel but, now as then, it is the unpackaging that pr sents the problems. It is a long time now sing Robert Benchley- said that if he had to take h pack of peppermints along to a garage to gel opened, he would just do without peppermint but still the manufacturers design sturdier ar sturdier containers that are almost impossible penetrate. Have the makers of sweets, biscuits at other foods which come in heat-sealed cellophar packets ever considered how their customers ai to get them out when there are no scissors hand) I have seen angry mothers at picnics tearing at a tightly sealed packet of biscuits with such force that when they did get it open, the biscuits were either reduced to crumbs or jerked all over the picnic place. And in cinemas (where all sweets are sold in specially noisy packets) the wrestling matches of public v. popcorn can last for half a reel or more. The cigarette makers gave us the tear strip round the packet : surely it is not beyond the wit of the package designers to do something like that for confectionery. s 11 a is it
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