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68
It was found necessary during the year to take proceedings
for infringement of the regulations made under the provisions of
the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1902, governing
the manufacture, sale, &c., of this article, against the occupier of
an ice cream shop at 375, Battersea Park Road, on October 5th, for
using dirty utensils. A conviction was obtained and the defendant
was fined £1 and 2s. costs.
On the same date an itinerant Italian ice-cream vendor was
summoned for using a dirty towel in the cleansing of the glasses used
for holding the ice-cream. He was convicted and fined £1 and 2s.
costs.
During the year the Council, on the recommendation of the
Health Committee, drew the attention of the London County Council
to the need for an amendment in the Act governing the manufacture
and sale of ice-cream, and suggested that the wording of
sec. 42 (a) should be extended so as to include the words " materials
or ingredients used in the manufacture thereof." It was
found in the course of inspection of these premises that materials
used for the manufacture of ice-cream, e.g., milk, was sometimes
stored under insanitary conditions. The Council also concurred
with the suggestion of Greenwich Borough Council to amend the
Act so as to include "stalls" from which ice-cream is sold, within
the meaning of sec. 42 (a). These suggestions have been embodied
by the London County Council in their (General Powers)
Bill now before Parliament.
The importance of safeguarding this article of food from the
risk of contamination is considerable. As numerous outbreaks of
dangerous diseases have been traceable to contaminated ice-cream,
the proceedings which the Council have found it necessary to take
for contravention of the ice-cream regulations have acted as
salutary lessons so far as the sale and manufacture of this article in
Battersea is concerned.
Restaurants and Eating Houses.
The annual inspection of these premises was systematically
commenced in 1902, and since then a general sanitary supervision
has been exercised over them by Inspector Benjamin. The total
number on the register at the end of 1910, was 103, as compared with
95 in 1909 and 90 in 1908.
During the year it was found necessary to serve 17 preliminary
and three statutory notices in connection with sanitary defects.
In the majority of instances, these defects were not of a serious
character, and had reference mainly to dirty condition of premises
(walls, floors and ceilings), defective sanitary appliances, &c.