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Three warning letters were sent to manufacturers in respect of
articles of food complained of by members of the public.
SAMPLING OF EGG PRODUCTS, 1957
Large consignments of egg products from various countries
continued to enter the borough during 1957 and sampling was
carried out to determine possible contamination by Salmonella
organisms. Under the Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations
local authorities are allowed only 48 hours as a period of detention
for sampling purposes and, as normal routine examination might
entail a delay of anything up to three weeks in releasing a consignment
for distribution, the importers paid for a considerable
number of the samples to be examined privately, in order to
obtain a punctual examination and rapid decision.
The method of sampling was by batch numbers (signifying
packing dates). Where a sample showed evidence of contamination
the whole batch was placed under detention and later either re-exported
or released for pasteurisation before use.
There has been some controversy between various authorities
regarding the most satisfactory procedure for sampling but the
method outlined above has been found to be the most practicable
in Bermondsey. Percentage sampling has been suggested but
would be unfeasible in this borough because of the very large
quantities of egg involved. The following table will illustrate
what increased sampling would have meant in the case of three
consignments of frozen whole egg which entered one inspector's
area during September 1957: —
Consignment
Number of
packages
Number of
batches
Number of
samples
taken
A 1 % sampling
would have
meant (No. of
(samples)
A 5% sampling
would have
meant (No. of
samples)
No. 1 25,460 24 24 255 1,273
No! 2 331249 21 21 332 1,662
No. 3 31,496 19 19 315 1,575
Totals 90,205 64 64 902 4,510
The main importations were of frozen whole egg and laboratory
results showed that from 3% to 6% of the major consignments
contained Salmonellae. These figures are a little lower than the
findings of the Public Health Laboratory Service, as published in
their monthly bulletin. The chief exporters were China and
Australia and the following table shows the number of contaminated
samples found and the type of contamination in respect of each
country:—