ABSTRACT

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, London was the biggest urban centre in Europe. Its population grew from nearly four million in 1871 to 7.26 million on the eve of the First World War. London's food supply problems and the ineffectiveness of the anti-adulteration legislation meant debate about food quality and the need for further legislative reform continued after the early Acts were passed. Although groups like the Food Reform Society (formed 1880) and the Vegetarian Society (1847) actively arranged meetings and lectures, their militant anti-meat agenda restricted their membership and their influence. The British Food Journal and Analytical Review (BFJs) attempt to create an independent agency for the control of food quality was the only one of its kind which had any success. Public analysts found two factors affecting food sold in the shops and on the streets of London that were beyond their control.