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55
Unsound Food.
On April 29th Inspector Nash, following a complaint as to
the condition of meat sold at a butcher's shop in his district,
visited the premises and examined the meat thereat. In a room
used for sausage-making were found 132¼ lbs. of sausage meat
in a stinking condition, which the Inspector seized and took to
Lambeth Police Court, where the Magistrate made the usual
order. The Committee ordered a prosecution in this case, the
shopkeeper having been cautioned some time previously for
having unsound meat in his possession. At the Court it was
admitted that the meat was unfit for food, but the defence stated
that it was not, in fact, meat, but was waste fat which had been
minced in the sausage machine—the reason given for this
unusual procedure being that "the fat man gives a better price
for chopped fat." The learned magistrate, after hearing arguments
on both sides, dismissed the summons, but made no order
as to costs.
On November 10th Inspector Collins, when passing a greengrocer's
shop in his district, saw a quantity of pears exposed for
sale, marked " good eating, 3d. per lb." The Inspector examined
the pears and found that the whole parcel was rotten and quite
unfit for food. The pears were conveyed to Lambeth Police
Court, where the Magistrate made an order for destruction.
The shopkeeper attended before the Committee, which decided,
after considering his statement, that the case would be met by
a severe caution.
Evening Inspections of Shops and Street Markets.—The
systematic inspection of shops and street markets, principally on
Saturday nights, was continued throughout the year.

FOOD POISONING.
In August an outbreak of gastro-enteritis, suspected to be
due to food poisoning, was brought to the notice of the Department
by a private practitioner. The only article of food of
which all the affected persons had partaken within 24 hours of
the outbreak was cheese, purchased at a shop in the Borough.
The symptoms were abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhœa.