London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hayes and Harlington 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hayes]
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The inspection of meat in slaughterhouses, which is carried out
to the standards laid down in Memo. 3/Foods, resulted in the
condemnation of 1,319 pounds of carcase meat and 2,105 pounds
of offal, whilst in retail shops 1,347 pounds of raw meat and 4,354
pounds of tinned meat were condemned.
The following foods (other than meat) were also condemned during the year :
| Cheese 3 | 38½cwts. | Bacon | 57 lbs. |
| Eggs | 4 doz. | Cake | 60 lbs. |
| Fish | 130 lbs. | Milk and cream (tinned) | 216 lbs. |
| Fish (tinned) | 28 lbs. | Tomato Puree, etc. (tinned) | 1¼ tons |
| Frozen foods | 140 lbs. | Vegetables (tinned) | 9 cwts. |
| Sandwich Spread | 201 lbs. | Miscellaneous tinned or | |
| Fruit (dried) | 6 cwts. | bottled food | 270 lbs. |
| Fruit (tinned) | 14¼wts. | Other miscellaneous food | 93 lbs. |
Condemned foods are disposed of, whenever possible, to a
manufacturer of animal feeding stuffs and, fertilisers or in accordance
with the Salvaged Goods (Revocation) Order, 1953. Small quantities
of condemned foods are buried on the Council's refuse tip.
Food Hygiene.
There has been no slackening in efforts to improve the conditions
under which food is prepared, handled and stored. All food premises
were visited, on average, six times each during the year by the
Sanitary Inspectors. These visits are valuable not only from the
inspection point of view but for the opportunity they offer for
discussions on all aspects of food hygiene on the spot with the
people engaged in handling food. This method of education has
been found superior to lectures, meetings, film shows, etc. which
invariably fail to attract those most in need of instruction.
The Council's notice boards in all parts of the district have
again been used for the display of food hygiene propaganda posters
and during the summer sets of posters issued by the Ministry of
Health were shown in all the schools in the district.
Byelaws made under Section 15 of the Food and Drugs Act,
1938, have been in force since July, 1950, and have helped to
bring about the considerable improvement in food hygiene standards
which has taken place since that time.
The Food Hygiene Guild has continued to serve a useful
purpose by displaying, through its 115 members in all parts ot the
district, the membership certificate and window plaque and so
keeping food hygiene constantly in the minds of the shopping public.
Ihe Food Hygiene Regulations, 1955, by laying down standards for
food premises which are higher than those specified in the Guild's
Codes of Practice has made the Guild, in its present form, redundant.
Consideration will soon have to be given to the acceptance of redrafted
and improved Codes of Practice. With a continuation of the
goodwill which has been a salient feature of the Guild ever since its
inception it should be possible to devise suitable Codes of Practice
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