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52
against the manufacturers. The following is the report of the
Public Health Committee to the Council on the circumstances of
the case:—
"We desire to call the attention of the Council to the prosecution
of Messrs. Vornberger & Co., the result of which is set out in the
Report of Legal proceedings now submitted."
"In February last, Mr. Bobbitt, one of the Sanitary Inspectors,
on visiting the premises of a local manufacturer, discovered some
intestines of oxen, known in the trade as "ox runners" or "casings,"
and used in the making of black puddings, which were affected with
a parasitic disease known as œsophagostoma columbianum. He
therefore seized the casings, and they were condemned by the
Magistrate at the North London Police Court as unfit for food.
Several other seizures were made by Mr. Bobbitt about the same
time, and it was found on enquiry that many of the casings had
been purchased by the manufacturers from Messrs. Vornberger
& Co."
"The Committee, after considering representations made to them,
and after weighing all the facts, were of opinion that proceedings
should be instituted against Messrs. Vornberger & Co. rather than
against the manufacturers, and a summons was thereupon taken out
and heard at the Clerkenwell Police Court on the 30th April last."
"Three defences were put forward by the Defendants, as
follows:—
(1) That the casings were not intended for the food of man,
as the skins of black puddings were not eaten.
(2) That the casings were not unwholesome or unfit for the
food of man.
(3) That at the time the casings were sold the Defendants did
not know of their condition."