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to comply with the provisions of this Section shall be liable for each offence on
conviction as aforesaid to a penalty not exceeding Forty Shillings.
Proceedings for the recovery of the penalties shall be instituted by the Sanitary
Authority for the District in which the offence was committed or of the District to the
Medical Officer of which such notification as aforesaid ought to have been made or in
which such itinerant vendor as aforesaid shall offer any such commodity as aforesaid for
sale as the case may be.
Copies of these clauses were circulated in English and Italian to all the ice cream vendors
in London.
There are at present 68 vendors or manufacturers of ice cream on the register.
The subject of the importance of cleanliness was brought prominently forward by the
action of the Medical Officer of Health (Dr. Collingridge) of the Corporation of
London in having several samples of ice cream analysed bacteriologically by
Professor Klein, as a result of the occurrence of cases of sudden illness which
followed the eating of ice creams bought at certain shops in the City. The result of these
examinations showed that, out of 24 samples taken, 13 contained micro-organisms which were
pathogenic or poisonous when injected into guinea pigs, and therefore presumably injurious to
man in sufficient quantities. This is a very serious indictment, and proves that freezing does
not by any means sterilise ice creams, or water. It appears that the contamination took place
between the boiling and freezing of the mixture, and that therefore there is less risk of contamination
in proportion to the shortness between these two processes. As a result of these
enquiries the following facts were established: —
(1) That in a number of cases of illness occurring among young persons of a
susceptible age, the symptoms were strictly identical, and were characteristic of poisoning
by ingestion of toxic material.
(2) That the cases reported followed the ingestion of ice creams.
(3) That ice creams subsequently obtained at shops frequented by the patients
contained bacilli of a virulent character.
(4) That the symptoms observed were those generally following the ingestion of
material containing such bacilli.
(5) That where pathogenic bacilli were found the ices had been manufactured
under insanitary conditions.
As a result of this, regulations were provided by the Corporation for the manufacture of
ice creams, of which the following is a copy:—
Corporation of London.
Regulations to be observed by persons being Manufacturers of, or Merchants, or Dealers
in Ice Creams, or other similar commodity within the City of London, approved by
the Corporation upon the 26th day of November, 1902.
1. No such commodity must be manufactured, sold, or stored in insanitary premises,
nor in any cellar, shed, or room in which there is any inlet or opening to a drain,
or which is used as a living room or sleeping room.
2. Such premises must at all times be kept in a thoroughly clean and sanitary condition.
3. All materials must be of a sound and wholesome description.
4. All utensils used in the preparation of ice cream, etc., should be thoroughly cleansed
and scalded with boiling water before use.
5. Such utensils should not be used for any other purpose than for making ice
creams, etc.
6. When in the process of manufacture materials are boiled, freezing must take place
immediately afterwards.
7. Such materials, after manufacture, should be kept in clean vessels, covered, and
placed in cool, well-ventilated rooms.
8. No ice cream or other similar commodity should be kept for a longer period than
48 hours after manufacture, if remaining then unsold it must be destroyed.
9. If any case of infectious disease occur amongst the persons employed in the business,
or living, or working in, on, or about the premises, in or on any part of which
any such commodity is manufactured, sold or stored, notice shall be forthwith
given to the Medical Officer of Health, Public Health Department, Guildhall, E.C.
Any infringement of the above Regulations will be dealt with as the Law directs.
Public Health Department, Guildhall, E.C.
26th November, 1902.
It would be well if such regulations could be adopted here.
All the ice cream places in this Borough were visited during the course of the year,
special attention being paid to the places where it is manufactured, by myself and the Chief
Inspector. In all of these certain structural alterations were carried out so as to provide for
cleanliness during the making and storage. No difficulty was found in having these alterations
carried out, since the manufacturers were quite alive to the importance of attending to them.
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