UNDER modern conditions of civilisation, the question of supplying food to large numbers of people who live at a distance from the actual areas of production, has assumed an importance which can scarcely be overestimated. The problem has been attacked along two lines: first, by means of quicker and more efficient transport; secondly, by the introduction of preserved foods, including under this term both those which are sterilised by heat and also those preserved by exposure to low temperatures. Owing to the loss or partial destruction of certain accessory food factors during the process of preservation, it is essential that fresh food, especially vegetables and fruit, should be available for general use, and this is largely ensured by means of efficient transport between producer and consumer. On the other hand, certain articles of diet, especially meats, which must be transported long distances, must undergo some treatment to keep them in a condition fit for human consumption, and there is no doubt that the most suitable method to employ is one which ensures sterility and its maintenance during transport: thus the meat, after efficient sterilisation by heat, may be tinned and kept sealed from the air, or it may be chilled or frozen, the low temperature preventing any microbic or similar growth. Unfortunately, simple chilling of meat at a temperature just below freezing point will not prevent deterioration on a long voyage: freezing at a tem-perature of io° F. is, however, successful, but the meat does not compare so favourably with fresh meat. It has, therefore, been suggested that the process of chilling might be supplemented by the addition of a chemical preservative or antiseptic when meat has to be conveyed long distances before consumption. The substance which has been used commercially to a small extent in this connexion has been formaldehyde, and the question at once arises as to. the effect of this substance upon the human economy. In the Interim Report of the Food Preservatives Committee,1 recently published, the use of formaldehyde as a food preservative is considered, both from a general point of view and also with particular reference to the carriage of chilled beef. The Committee is unanimous in condemning its use, both \vith regard to its effects on the consumer himself and also from the fact that it can be used to conceal, incipient decomposition, without, of course, thereby rendering the food fit for human consumption.