London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Holborn 1922

Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1922

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26
Places where Food is prepared for Sale.
Under this head are included kitchens of hotels, restaurants and eating-houses
of all sorts, slaughter-houses, tripe, offal and other meat shops, fried fish, eel
and other fish shops premises where ice cream is made, and other places where
food is prepared for sale, excluding bakehouses which are given above.

The number of such places on the register at the end of the year was as follows:—

Hotels, Restaurants and Eating Houses ...177
Slaughter-houses1
Tripe, offal and other meat shops ...34
Fried Fish shops6
Fish shops18
Tee Cream (Manufacture)85
Poulterers3

During the year 2,785 inspections of food premises and market streets were
made and 34 notices served for sanitary defects found.
The supervision of the many places in the Borough where food is sold, stored,
or prepared for sale is of considerable importance; much attention has to be
devoted to this work to ensure the cleanliness both of premises and utensils, and
sound condition of the food.
Market Streets.
There were 791 inspections of market streets, each of which includes a number
of stalls at which meat, fish, fruit and vegetables are sold. These streets are also
regularly inspected on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings.
In these markets the food exposed for sale is subject to contamination from
dust, flies and other sources of impurity. Moreover if the food is exposed for
sale or stored near the roadway it may become contaminated with the excreta of
animals. To a lesser extent the danger of contamination is prevalent in
connection with " open " shops. In some parts of the Borough goods exposed
for sale in butchers, nrovision dealers, greengrocers, and other shops, are protected
by closed fronts. Tn other districts, the shops concerned are " open and the
. difficulty of protecting the food from contamination is increased.
It is desirable that further powers should be conferred on Local Authorities
to control the sale of food and other commodities from open shops and in street
markets. These powers should be sufficient to prevent contamination by street
dust, animals, etc., particularly of such articles as butter, margarine, cheese, etc.,
which are not cooked or washed before consumption. A supply of clean water
would be of especial value, particularly to the vendors of fish, vegetables, ice
cream and refreshments, including coffee stalls. Such powers might also extend
to the control of street vendors of food generally.