The British Food Manufacturing Industries Research Association at Leatherhead in Surrey.

C/Us and M/S of baskets of fresh strawberries being sliced by two women in white coats then pressed onto pieces of paper to take 'fingerprints'. Jean Wheatley pins a piece of paper with four strawberries stuck to it to a board, them peels off the fruit and makes notes below. M/Ss as strawberries are weighed and emptied into a large glass jar then carried away by Jill Ireson. Commentator says "The main reason for these tests is to assist and advise the various jam manufacturers, and consequently much of the important research is done in the jam stage".

C/Us of strawberries, sugar and butter bubbling away in a large cauldron as Jill stirs it all together to make jam - for research purposes! She puts a huge thermometer in the pan and when the jam has reached the correct temperature it is tipped into a large pot then poured into glass jars. Various shots of Jill and Jean Colquhoun doing this, the lids being tightened by a special machine and the jars put into a steel drawer under the work top so the jam can be sterilised with steam.

M/Ss and C/Us of Samuel Nash putting jam into little square boxes then examining them through a microscopic device to assess the colour. Brilliant M/S of Miss Thompson and Dr Taylor sitting in booths and sampling the jam from three different plates with a separate plate for cream crackers; C/U of Dr T tasting and making notes.

I'd like some on a toasted scone please.

Note: On file is a sheet on 'The Mid-Summer Strawberry Assessments' from the BFMIRA, a jam flavour and colour assessment form and, as seen in this film, an original strawberry 'fingerprint' chart from 1957!! (I'll round up the usual suspects.)