Food Legislation

FOOD LEGISLATION encompasses the aggregate of norms and directives established by the central state authority and individual departments within the rights and powers granted to them by the central authority, and directed toward ensuring the quality and wholesomeness of food products. Food legislation and supervision in Russia prior to the October Revolution. In pre-revolutionary Russia, there was no special unified food law. In the first edition of the Code of Laws of 1832 (Volume XV, Book 1), there were articles punishing the adulteration of food products. Subsequently, as the Code of Laws was amended, food legislation was limited to penalties only for adulteration. In this, as in all sanitary legislation of capitalist countries, the main feature of police-sanitary functions of the state was revealed: an abundance of prohibitive norms in legislation with a complete absence of norms of positive order. As a result, despite the specificity of their work, the police apparatus of pre-revolutionary Russia did not pay attention to food supervision, and when it did perform these functions, it did so with attributes characteristic of the police system (bribery, concealing offenders from among the wealthy classes, influential persons, etc.). Along with the police, supervision over the quality of food products was also entrusted to government physicians and could also be carried out by city and zemstvo (district) physicians. There were no laboratories for examining food products in the physician administrations, and examinations, when necessary, were entrusted to pharmacies. There was completely no special competent sanitary-food personnel. Therefore, in various cities, this supervision of food products was carried out by various random organs—in some cities by general sanitary physicians, in others by veterinary physicians, in third by members of city administrations, in others by the police or specially created sanitary commissions, trade deputies, trade police, etc. The law did not establish either the concept of a wholesome food product or a unified "system of supervision over products." Only in the capitals—St. Petersburg and Moscow—did special sanitary organs exist which, to one degree or another, carried on their activities; but the absence of unified food legislation extremely hindered the implementation of the directives of these so-called trade-sanitary physicians. In Moscow, these physicians for a long time (until 1913) bore the title "market physicians." Sanitary laboratories, where such examinations of food products were conducted, existed in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and some other large cities of Russia. Their personnel in 1908 was expressed by an extremely small figure—55 persons. Only before the war was a draft law "On ensuring the wholesomeness of food, taste products, and beverages" (developed by the Committee for Combating Adulteration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs) prepared and submitted to the State Duma, but it was also not published. Food legislation abroad. Individual measures for protecting the wholesomeness of food products can be noted in some European states as early as the 19th century. The first legislative act for the protection of food products is the French law of 1851 on the adulteration of food products. In 1905, this law was amended and significantly supplemented and published as the "Law against deception in the sale of goods and against the counterfeiting of food products and agricultural products" ("Loi sur la repression des fraudes dans la vente des marchandises et des falsifications denrees alimentaires et des produits agricoles"). In Germany, the "Law on the handling of food products" was adopted in 1879, which remained in force until 1927, when it was replaced by a new law, adopted by the Reichstag, "on the handling of food products and necessities of life" ("Gesetz fiber den Verkehr mit Lebensmitteln und Bedarfsgegenstanden-Liebensmittelgesetz"). In England, the first law for the protection of food products from adulteration ("Adulteration of Food Act") was approved by parliament in 1860; in 1875, this law was amended and incorporated into the general sanitary law of 1875; with supplements adopted in 1899, it is still in force. In the French, German, and English laws, only measures of liability for the adulteration and counterfeiting of food products and for their release into circulation under inappropriate designations are provided for, and the right of the state to carry out sanitary supervision over products is formalized. According to the German law, this supervision is carried out by the police or special experts. The law does not contain regulations of requirements for individual products. These requirements are detailed in the Austrian Food Code ("Codex alimentarius austriacus"), the first edition of which dates from 1908, and the second from 1925, and in the Swiss code of standards for food products ("Lebensmittelbuch"), approved by the Federal Council in 1917. These requirements are regulated less in detail in the new law of the USA in 1927. Extensive food legislation exists in Belgium (see) and Holland (see). Food legislation in the USSR (principles). In the USSR, the basic principles of food legislation are aimed at reconstructing the base of food supply, creating a powerful food industry, and switching nutrition mainly to the rails of public catering. In pre-revolutionary Russia, with an abundance of labor force, the production of food products, for the most part, had the character of a trade in which the greater part of the work was done by hand. The USSR, on the contrary, is interested in maximizing the increase in labor productivity and in the maximum economy of human energy. 1930 and 1931 were years of gathering together the scattered food industry, years of its reconstruction. In Stalingrad and in the Kuban, the construction of new most powerful canneries, equipped with improved machines, was completed and they went into operation; in Moscow and Dnepropetrovsk, the largest milling combines were built, where from the car in which grain was delivered to the car receiving flour, ¹ human hand does not touch the products: all processes are mechanized. In 1932, 9 new largest oil-extraction factories go into operation—in Ukraine, the North Caucasus, in Central Asia and the Far East—and 8 new margarine factories, which in their technical equipment surpass the best similar enterprises of Western Europe. The construction of the Moscow, Leningrad, Semipalatinsk and Orsk meat combines is completed. The volume of production of the food industry grows in 1932 to 17 billion rubles. The pace of reconstruction and further development of the food industry, corresponding to the interests of socialist construction, must be ensured by appropriate norms of food legislation. The law of 1930 on concentrating all the food industry under the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Supply of the USSR and the people's commissariats of supply of the union republics, the organization of powerful industry associations of the food industry are the main legislative prerequisites conditioned by the interests of socialist construction, stimulating the development of the food industry. During the period of socialist reconstruction, food legislation is thus based on the following premises: 1) the wholesomeness of food products and the sanitary conditions of their production, distribution, and public consumption must be maximally ensured; 2) the norms of legislation must stimulate the development of the food industry and the expansion of the base of food supply of the country; 3) the norms must be calculated on the basis that the main supplier of food products is the socialized sector of the national economy; 4) in food legislation, public catering must find corresponding reflection, taking into account its tendency to consolidation. The fundamental principles from which Soviet food legislation proceeds essentially differ from the principles of capitalist countries, the common features of whose food laws are: 1) the principle of private enterprise; 2) the main tasks are only the struggle against adulteration and deception; 3) an abundance of petty restrictions and punitive sanctions with their differentiation according to individual types of offenses, which in the end are sensitive for small producers and traders and easily circumvented by large entrepreneurs and firms.

Completely outside the scope of the legislators of bourgeois countries is what is called public catering, which there has more the character of private restaurant ownership; also not reflected in foreign legislation are the principles of preventive sanitary supervision and the participation of the latter in the design and construction of food enterprises. - In addition to the governments (CIC, SNK) of the all-union and republic levels, individual acts regulating food matters in the USSR are issued by: 1) the People's Commissariat of Supply of the USSR and the people's commissariats of supply of the union republics - in the sphere of the food industry, the supply of food products, including public catering; 2) the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the USSR and the people's commissariats of agriculture of the union republics - in the sphere of extraction and processing of agricultural and livestock products; 3) the people's commissariats of health of the union republics - in the sphere of sanitary protection; 4) the NKP S and NKVod - in the sphere of transportation of food products; 5) the All-Union Committee for Standardization under the STO and republican committees for standardization - in the sphere of standards for food and taste products, their packaging, etc. (see below). Resolutions regulating the extraction and handling of products on a local scale are issued by local executive committees - down to the district level - within the framework of corresponding laws and departmental orders. Many aspects are regulated by interdepartmental resolutions, such as: 1) the rules of the NKZdrav, NKTor g, NKZem, NKVD and NKYu of the RSFSR on supervision over dairy farms; 2) the NKZdr. and NKZem on veterinary-sanitary supervision over meat products, etc. Food legislation in the USSR before 1929. After the October Revolution in the USSR, the development and creation of a certain system of sanitary protection of food products began. Before the new sanitary organs, a new and important task then arose for the first time - the protection of food products as state property, and in addition, a task practically unknown before - the establishment of nutritional standards. In the first period of Soviet power, the work of the NKZdrav, organized in late 1918, began on sanitary service of food matters. This work, going beyond the narrow framework of supervision, begins to take on the character of positive measures, whose purpose is not only control but also sanitary consultation, expertise, and direct guidance from sanitary organs in carrying out certain health-improving measures in this area. In 1921, rules were issued signed by the People's Commissars of Health, Food Supply, Agriculture and the Chairman of the VSNH (circular No. 453 of 6/XI 1921) regulating the relations of the NKZdrav and other departments in the sphere of public nutrition. These rules provide for a number of measures by the NKZdrav in the areas of current and preventive sanitary supervision and the participation of health organs in resolving all other issues concerning nutrition. Positive measures by sanitary organs are also provided for in the circular of the NKZdrav and the board of 'Narpit' No. 167 of 16/VIII 1924 'On the connection of sanitary organs with the organs of 'Narpit'' (Bulletin of NKZdrav, 1924, No. 1-6). In this circular, sanitary organs are proposed to participate and consult in the construction and equipment of canteens, to observe the proper processing of products and the preparation of food. Food legislation of the USSR in 1929-31. The concentration in the hands of the state of the main mass of the food industry made it possible to carry out in-depth work on improving the quality of food products, which was later reflected in the F. z. in the form of standardization of the latter (see below). The expansion of the successes of socialist construction, the transition from the period of restoration to the period of reconstruction of the entire national economy on socialist principles, the implementation of collectivization of agriculture by 62% and the elimination of the kulaks as a class on the basis of complete collectivization, the almost complete elimination of the private sector in trade and production of food products have opened up new possibilities in recent years for the development of F. z. in the USSR. This found its reflection in a number of new government and departmental acts of 1929-32. The resolution of the SNK of the RSFSR of 11/XI 1929 'On measures to strengthen sanitary supervision and control over the food industry' and the subsequent resolution of the SNK of 20/V 1930 'On the sanitary minimum' gave an impetus to the deepening and intensification of the work of sanitary organs in the sphere of nutrition and to the carrying out by them of systematic positive sanitary measures. The directive of the CC VKP(b) of 19/VII 1931 'On measures to improve public catering' (published in the journal 'On the Health Front', 1932, No. 1-2) and the resolutions of the SNK of the USSR No. 762 of 3/IX 1931, the order of the People's Commissariat of Supply of the USSR No. 697 of 5/IX 1931 and the instruction of the NKZdrav of the RSFSR No. 157 of 25/IX 1931 issued in connection with it mark the beginning of a decisive struggle for the improvement of public catering. 'By the resolution of the CC VKP(b) of 1-9/VIII 1931 it was proposed a) to transition from factory kitchens with a thermos system to factory-preparatory kitchens with a network of canteens at factories and plants; b) to build not less than 250-300 factory-preparatory kitchens with a network of 3-4 thousand canteens supplied by them; c) to oblige plant administrations to allocate premises for heating and distribution of food and to equip them; d) to establish special supervision by the organs of the NKZdrav over the sanitary condition of public catering enterprises; e) to organize within the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection a special inspection with the participation of proletarian public for control over public catering; f) to separate public catering from the consumer cooperative system in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Donbass, the Shakhtin region and the Urals region, transferring it to the jurisdiction of a special association 'Soyuznarpit', which is under the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Supply of the USSR.' The turn in the sphere of sanitary service of food matters, begun with the first steps of Soviet power in the form of the introduction of positive measures by sanitary organs in this service and reflected in the F. z., was deepened every year starting in 1921; in 1931 this turn was given a new impetus by the above-mentioned legislation. By the resolution of the SNK of the RSFSR of 10/VIII 1931 (Collection of Laws, 1931, No. 57, art. 422) it was proposed to organize state and public inspection for sanitary supervision, in the sphere of work of which is also sanitary service of nutrition. The involvement of a broad worker active force in the form of public inspectors in the struggle for food quality, decreed by this resolution, is the most important factor on the path to decisive successes in this struggle and completely reforms the system of sanitary supervision, taking it out of departmental rut onto the rails of mass participation by advanced proletarians. F. z. in the USSR develops and expands the scope of its influence in proportion to the development of socialist forms of economy, with the introduction of new forms of economic relations in the USSR; legislative norms in food matters derive from the latter, being their derivative, and in turn have an effect on them, stimulating their development in the direction of deepening the successes of the socialist sector of extraction and production of food products and their supply to public catering. Organs of food supervision. Supervision over the fulfillment of the prescriptions of F. z. and over the wholesomeness of food¹ products in the USSR is carried out by the sanitary organs of the NKZdrav of the union republics, the State Inspection for Quality of the People's Commissariat of Supply and the veterinary-sanitary organs of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture. The legislative basis for the activity of sanitary organs in the sphere of food supervision for the RSFSR is the resolution of the SNK of the RSFSR of 8/X 1927 'On the sanitary organs of the republic' (Collection of Laws, 1927, No. 104, art. 695). According to Art. 3 of this provision, the sanitary organs are 'entrusted with the sanitary protection of food products, beverages and public catering.' According to Arts. 5-10, sanitary physicians are granted the right to enter all state, public and private premises, institutions, enterprises and structures for the purpose of conducting inspections and examinations, seizure of food products and other materials for sanitary analysis, presentation of requirements for the elimination of sanitary violations and shortcomings, bringing to account, withdrawal from use, consumption and sale of products and beverages harmful to health, and their destruction. Paragraph 'g' of Art. 18 of the resolution establishes that current and preliminary sanitary supervision applies to the places of manufacture, storage, consumption and sale of food products and beverages. The supervision of transport sanitary physicians also applies to food cargoes (Art. 4). By the resolution of the SNK of the USSR of 9/XI 1931, inspectors for sanitary supervision were granted the right to directly impose fines administratively in amounts up to 100 rubles. In the Ukrainian SSR, the resolution of the SNK of 12/II 1925 'On sanitary supervision over the manufacture, storage and sale of food products, flavoring substances and beverages' is in effect. In the BSSR, the provision on the sanitary organs of the republic of 16/X 1926 is in effect; in Azerbaijan - the same of 12/VI 1925; in Turkmenistan - the same of 5/VIII 1926, etc. The laws of all union republics basically coincide with the above-mentioned resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of 8/X 1927. The existing norms of sanitary-food supervision in the RSFSR are established by the resolution of the SNK of 6/VI 1931.'

(Collection of Laws, 1631, No. 29, Art. 262): 1 sanitary physician and 1 assistant per 50,000 population. In cities and factory-farm settlements with 10,000 industrial workers in leading industries, the position of 1 sanitary-food physician and 1 assistant is also established, even if the total population does not reach 50,000. In addition, special positions of sanitary-food physicians are established for servicing the following enterprises: a) factory-kitchen; b) margarine plant; c) large slaughterhouse with a network of auxiliary enterprises for utilization and processing of waste and offal; d) canneries—according to special lists established annually by local health authorities and the People's Commissariat of Supply. The State Quality Inspection of the People's Commissariat of Supply supervises: 1) compliance of food products with all-Union standards, and in the absence of such, with temporary republican or departmental standards or special specifications established by the People's Commissariat of Supply; 2) sorting of products and their certification; 3) supervision of compliance with proper conditions for storage and packaging of food products. Veterinary supervision authorities carry out, in accordance with Articles 55a-74 of the Veterinary Statute (M., 1924), supervision over the movement of animals and raw animal products, as well as over slaughterhouses and places for storage of meat and other raw animal products. Among the resolutions of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR in the field of sanitary-food supervision, the following should be noted: 1. Circular of June 4, 1923, No. 126 "On Sanitary Supervision of Food Products" (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1923, No. 11), which contains the following directives: a) for the purpose of implementing systematic sanitary supervision of food products at the local level, mandatory resolutions are issued, guided by the orders of the People's Commissariat of Health and taking into account local conditions. These mandatory resolutions must be coordinated with interested agencies (administrative departments, supply departments, land management authorities, etc.); b) in assessing the quality of products for which no standards approved by central authorities exist, health departments follow general hygiene standards; c) all food industry and trade enterprises are subject to sanitary inspection before their opening, and the products they produce are tested in the health department's laboratory. If local health departments are unable to give an opinion on a product, they request the People's Commissariat of Health, whose opinion is final. 2. Circular "On Strengthening Sanitary-Food Supervision" No. 106/31 of January 21, 1930 ("On the Health Front," official section, 1930, No. 5), in which local health departments are proposed to develop more active activity in this direction, especially in the area of public catering. 3. Instruction on sanitary-epidemiological investigation of acute food poisonings No. 196/30 of July 29, 1930 ("On the Health Front," official section, 1930, No. 27). Poisoning cards must be sent after completion to the scientific institute of nutrition. 4. In the "Instruction to Sanitary Authorities on Food Sanitation" No. B-182/31 of May 25, 1929 ("Health Issues," official section, 1929, No. 21), the functions of the latter are outlined in detail in both the preventive and current sanitary supervision fields. Special attention is paid (§ 14) to the tasks of sanitary-food physicians in the field of public catering, and the obligations of the health department in ensuring the sanitary-food physician (§ 22): a) premises for work and a telephone; b) instruments; c) necessary literature; d) transportation means; e) possibility to use the nearest sanitary-bacteriological laboratory; f) assistant, stationery, seal, forms, etc.; g) possibility to send materials, documents, etc. To develop and supplement the instruction, regional and provincial health departments issue local rules and regulations that more specifically and in detail regulate the activities of sanitary-food physicians depending on local conditions (§ 29 of the instruction). Food legislation for individual objects. Meat and meat products. The slaughterhouse business is regulated by the "Rules for the opening, arrangement, equipment, operation and implementation of veterinary-sanitary supervision on slaughterhouses and slaughter points" [circular of the People's Commissariats of Health, Land Affairs, Internal Affairs and Trade, No. 93/mv of April 8, 1927 (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1927, No. 9)]. Basically, slaughterhouse supervision is under the jurisdiction of veterinary authorities. Article 4 of the "Rules" provides for the participation of sanitary supervision. In addition, the resolution of the People's Commissariats of Health, Land Affairs, Internal Affairs, Trade and Justice "On the veterinary-sanitary part of slaughterhouses" No. 226/zh of September 13, 1927 (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1927, No. 18) indicates the mandatory coordination of slaughterhouse supervision measures with the health agencies of health departments. "Rules for inspection of slaughter animals and rejection of meat products" (Circular of the People's Commissariat of Health No. 34 of March 5, 1925; Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1925, No. 3) give basic instructions to veterinary and sanitary supervision when conducting meat inspections. They provide for: 1) inspection of slaughter animals; 2) examination of carcasses and organs of slaughter animals; 3) rejection of meat products; 4) procedure for classifying meat products as "conditionally fit"; 5) disinfection of conditionally fit slaughter products; 6) division of meat into categories; 7) branding of carcasses; 8) the question of hides of slaughtered animals. The "Instruction on the fight against foot-and-mouth disease" (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1926, No. 16) prescribes that slaughter for meat of an animal from a district or point unfavorable for foot-and-mouth disease is permitted with permission and under the supervision of a veterinary physician. Instructions on strengthening sanitary supervision over places for procurement, storage and sale of meat are also contained in the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR No. B-259/31 of August 6, 1929 ("Health Issues," official section, 1929, No. 31), in which it is proposed: 1) to petition local executive committees to issue special resolutions on imposing fines for non-compliance with sanitary rules on slaughterhouses, meat warehouses and retail meat shops and stalls; 2) to begin systematic sanitary inspection of slaughterhouses and places for storage and sale of meat, contacting veterinary supervision and agencies of the People's Commissariat of Trade (now the People's Commissariat of Supply); to subsequently carry out systematic and constant sanitary supervision over slaughterhouses and places for storage and sale of meat; 3) to pay attention to the conditions of horse-drawn transportation of meat. Rules for transportation of meat loads by rail were approved by the People's Commissariat of Railways in 1927 and are included in Appendix No. 23 to Article 95 of the Railway Charter (Chapter X, M., 1930). Standards for sausage products are provided by the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR No. B-60/31 of December 27, 1928 ("Health Issues," official section, 1929, No. 1) (see also "Meat-veterinary-sanitary supervision"). Fish and fish products. On the arrangement and maintenance of fisheries in the RSFSR, an interdepartmental resolution of the People's Commissariats of Labor and Health, agreed with the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, No. B-284/sh of September 5, 1929 ("Health Issues," official section, 1929, No. 34) was issued. It contains detailed norms for the arrangement of working and auxiliary premises, for water supply, sewerage, removal of filth and safety rules. In the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health No. B-224/31 of July 3, 1929 ("Health Issues," official section, 1929, No. 26), it is proposed that when conducting sanitary inspections of fish "goods" and when determining their quality, the following should be followed: 1) establish testing of bread (OST No. 519). 2) In the resolution of the People's Commissariat of Trade of the USSR and the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR No. B^237/zhv of July 18, 1929 ("Health Issues," official section, 1929, No. 28) "On the quality characteristics of baked bread subject to rejection". 3) In the resolution of the People's Commissariat of Trade of the RSFSR of December 27, 1929 "On measures to improve the quality of baked bread" (Legislation on Bread Matters, 1930, No. 2), there is a detailed list of measures to improve the quality of bread both on the part of baking organizations and on the part of the milling industry and bread trading network. The need for special attention to the quality of baked bread is noted in the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On measures to improve the quality of baked bread" of May 4, 1930 ("Health Issues," official section, 1930, No. 20). Regarding flour used for baking, the former People's Commissariat of Trade of the USSR issued Circular No. 265 of November 4, 1930 (Legislation on Bread Matters, 1930, No. 67), according to which: 1) baking bread from immature flour is prohibited; 2) flour with a temperature below 12° is prohibited for baking; 3) optimal storage periods for flour are established: a) wheat single-sort—10-15 days; b) the same sorted—7 days; c) rye—7 days. Control over compliance with this circular is entrusted to the State Quality Inspection. Measures to combat ergot are regulated by special rules of the People's Commissariat of Health, the People's Commissariat of Land and the People's Commissariat of Trade No. 182/li of July 19, 1927 (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1927, No. 15). Measures to combat contamination of flour with potato bacillus are provided for in the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR No. 239 of December 21, 1925 (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1925, No. 24). Margarine. Production and sale of margarine in the RSFSR are regulated by sanitary rules issued by the People's Commissariat of Health, the People's Commissariat of Trade and the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the RSFSR No. B-204/mv of June 15, 1929.

("Questions of Health", official section, 1929, № 23-24). According to these rules, state and cooperative institutions wishing to open a factory for the production of margarine are obliged to declare this to the local health department for registration and sanitary inspection of its premises. The production of margarine by private individuals is not permitted (§ 1). The production of margarine is permitted in industrial establishments designed exclusively for this purpose. The opening of departments for the production of margarine in dairy and other factories is not permitted (§ 7). Further, the rules provide a list of the factory premises and the requirements to which it must satisfy. The second part of the rules contains standards concerning the trade in margarine. The latter is prohibited to private individuals, while state and cooperative institutions must obtain the sanction of the local health department for the right to trade in margarine. In general grocery stores, the storage and trade in margarine are permitted on the condition that a separate part of the premises is allocated for this purpose and that margarine is stored separately from other products. The storage of margarine in places of retail trade must be carried out at a temperature not exceeding 5°. Margarine must be dispensed from places of its sale or storage only in undamaged original packaging. The third section of the rules contains the definition and classification of margarine and the requirements to which the materials used for preparing margarine must satisfy (see also Margarine). Canned goods. Sanitary rules regulating the production of canned goods have not been issued either in the RSFSR or in other union republics. (For the lead content in canned goods containers, see Tinplate). In addition, OSTs (All-Union Standards) have been issued concerning containers for canned goods: № 514-tin cans for canned goods, round, cylindrical, and № 547-rubber rings for canned food tins. Beverages. The production of vodka is quite fully regulated (see). For the production of vodka products, grape vodka and cognac, see Vodkas. To vodka products, the addition of substances is permitted, the list of which is established by the People's Commissariat of Health in circular № 231 of August 8, 1927 ("Questions of Health", 1928, № 16 and 1930, № 8). According to the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR № 86 of April 11, 1925, the sale of wines under the name "medicinal" is prohibited (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1925, № 7-8).-Of other beverages, the production and sale of artificial mineral medicinal waters are regulated by the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR № 29 of November 25, 1931 ("On the Health Front", official section, 1931, № 9). The production and bottling of these waters can only be carried out with the permission of the People's Commissariat of Health. The production and sale of fruit waters are regulated by the mandatory resolution of the People's Commissariat of Health, the Supreme Economic Council and the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR "On the opening, organization and maintenance of establishments for the production of artificial mineral and fruit waters, as well as their trade" № 143/zh of April 3, 1930 ("On the Health Front", official section, 1930, № 13). Dyes for coloring food and flavoring products. In the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health № 32 of February 4, 1925 (Bulletin of the People's Commissariat of Health, 1925, № 3), there is a list of vegetable dyes permitted for coloring food products; the use of mineral and coal-tar dyes for this purpose is prohibited.-Canned goods. The question of permissible norms of impurities of antiseptic preservatives to food products has been regulated in the RSFSR by the resolution of the People's Commissariat of Health and the People's Commissariat of Supply № 94/zh of October 22, 1931 ("On the Health Front", official section, 1931, № 20-21). According to this resolution, the following are permitted for addition: a) sodium benzoate in apple puree and fruit-berry semi-finished products in a dose of 1.0 per 1 kg (0.1%) and in marmalade, pastille and starch-paté products in accordance with OSTs №№ 552-3, 201-3; b) salicylic acid in fruit puree in a dose of 0.2 per 1 kg (0.02%); c) sulfur dioxide in fruit-berry semi-finished products, desulfurized during processing in a dose of 0.15-0.3%; in tomato puree on condition of its subsequent boiling down to 50% of its volume in a dose of 0.15%; in dried fruits for preparing semi-finished products-0.15%; In finished confectionery products and in dried fruits intended for direct consumption, not more than 0.003% of free sulfuric acid (0.01% total) is permitted; in wine and wort, 0.002% of free sulfuric acid (0.02% total) is permitted. Utensils for preparing, storing and consuming food. Legislation regulates: a) the norms of maximum lead content in tinplate and solder (see Tinplate and Tinning). Enamel and glaze of utensils used for storing or cooking food, when boiled in 4% acetic acid for 30 minutes, must not give off lead into this liquid; b) Sanitary-hygienic requirements for utensils used in public catering establishments are contained in the regulations for the latter of September 25, 1931 (see below). These requirements specify from which materials utensils are permitted for use for one or another purpose. Sanitary-hygienic requirements for food enterprises are established by the people's commissariats of health of the union republics directly or in agreement with the interested departments if they concern matters regulated by the latter. In the RSFSR, the "Regulations for Public Catering Enterprises" of October 6, 1931, published № 164 in the journal "On the Health Front", official section, № 40-41, 1931, is currently in force. According to these regulations: a) the choice of a land plot and projects for newly constructed enterprises must be preliminarily agreed with the sanitary authorities; b) equipment and inventory must be in full working order and kept clean; c) walls and ceilings must be plastered; the lower part of the walls (1.5 m) must be painted with oil paint; d) floors must be made of an impervious material, easily cleaned and washed. The regulations detail the design, equipment and maintenance of kitchens, preparation rooms, storerooms, washing rooms, control of rodents and insects, methods of washing and cleaning utensils and rules for tinning. Basically, the requirements come down to establishing maximum guarantees for compliance with hygienic norms in canteens, ensuring healthy conditions for nutrition there. As an appendix, tables of permitted utensils and tableware, rules for storing products in public catering enterprises and instructions for combating rodents and insects are given. A model sanitary minimum for public catering establishments was published by the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR in agreement with Vsesoyuzkomitetom and Soyuznarpitom ("On the Health Front", official section, 1931, № 38-39). A model sanitary minimum for bakeries and bread factories was published there, in issues 35-36 for 1930. Sanitary-hygienic requirements for bread factories and bakeries are also provided for in the mandatory resolution of the People's Commissariat of Labor of the USSR № 56 of November 24, 1930 "On the organization of bakeries and bread factories" (News of the People's Commissariat of Labor of the USSR, 1930, № 11). Sanitary-hygienic requirements for other types of food enterprises have been issued: a) by the People's Commissariat of Health, People's Commissariat of Agriculture, People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and People's Commissariat of Trade in the part of slaughterhouses and slaughter points (№ 93/mv of April 8, 1927); b) by the People's Commissariat of Health in relation to sausage establishments (№ 132/31 of May 15, 1928); c) by the People's Commissariat of Health, People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, People's Commissariat of Justice, People's Commissariat of Agriculture and People's Commissariat of Trade in relation to dairy establishments (№ 76/zhv of March 19, 1927); d) by the People's Commissariat of Health and the Supreme Economic Council in relation to enterprises producing artificial mineral and fruit waters (№ 143/zhv of April 3, 1930) ("On the Health Front", official section, 1930, № 13); e) by the People's Commissariat of Health and Centrosyuz-for closed distributors supplying food products (№ 106 of June 7, 1931). All these official resolutions contain the following general norms: 1) the mandatory nature of prior sanitary supervision permission; 2) fulfillment of a number of conditions concerning the choice of plot, planning of premises, their equipment and maintenance; 3) the procedure for carrying out current supervision. In the circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR № 75 of April 21, 1931 ("On the Health Front", official section, 1931, № 16), it was proposed to involve the working public (sections of the council, commissions-canteens, cooperative, etc.) in carrying out current sanitary supervision over food enterprises. In development and supplement to central departmental resolutions, sanitary-hygienic requirements for food enterprises are established by mandatory resolutions of local government bodies (up to and including district executive committees). Standardization of food products and beverages. -An important area of food legislation is standardization. Projects of all-union standards (see OST) for food products are developed in the corresponding economic associations (Soyuzmyaso, Soyuzmoloko, etc.) and through the Standardization Bureau of the People's Commissariat of Supply of the USSR are submitted for approval to the Committee for Standardization under the State Planning Committee of the USSR. By January 1, 1932, about 500 OSTs for food products had been issued. Before the issuance of an OST for individual products, temporary republican and departmental standards may be established. There are OSTs for baked bread of various grades, most grain products, for the main grades of fish products, for butter, milk; of meat-only for bacon, pork, poultry; for salt, confectionery products, canned goods of various grades, almost for all kinds of vegetables, fruits, berries, fruits, etc. used in food. Attempts at international food legislation.

At the XIV International Hygiene Congress in Berlin in 1907, the first attempt was made at international measures for the protection of food products, namely—it was decided that to ensure the wholesomeness of food products, which are one of the most important objects of world trade, it is necessary to conclude international agreements on the standards of their composition, the application of uniform research methods, and uniform measures to combat adulteration. In accordance with this decision, the International Red Cross Society convened in 1908 in Geneva an international congress to resolve the aforementioned questions. The definition of concepts of 'normal products' was placed at the foundation of the program of the first congress. The Congress gave some impetus to the development in individual countries of work on Food Legislation. Since the imperialist war of 1914, with the cessation of the convening of international hygiene congresses, the question of preparing an international convention on food legislation was no longer raised.