London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Camberwell 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.
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Ice Cream Premises.
| Number of premises where ice cream was manufactured and sold | 127 |
| Number of premises where ice cream was sold, but not manufactured on the premises | 104 |
| Number of premises on register where the sale of ice cream was discontinued during the season | 74 |
| Premises on Register December 1933 | 305 |
| Number of premises removed from the register during the year | 6 |
During the year 328 inspections were made of the premises
where ice cream was sold or manufactured, special attention being
paid to the cleanliness of the utensils used.
It was necessary to serve 11 cleansing notices, all of which were
complied with.
At present there is no legal standard for ice cream, consequently
the quality of this commodity varies, nor is there a
bacteriological standard.
Ice Cream: Bacteriological Examinations. Nine samples of ice cream were submitted for bacteriological examination, and the reports thereon appear in the appended table:—
| Sample marked. | Date obtained. | Where purchased. | Bacteria per cc. | Presence of Bacillus Coli. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | July 27th | Shop | 700,000 | Present in 1/100 cc. |
| No. 2 | July 27th | Barrow in a public thoroughfare. | 880,000 | Absent in 1/10 cc. |
| No. 3 | July 27th | Shop | 85,500,000 | Present in 1/100 cc. |
| No. 4 | Aug. 17th | Barrow in a public thoroughfare. | 350,000 | Present in 1/100 cc. |
| No. 5 | Aug. 17th | Shop | 120,000 | Present in 1/10 cc. |
| No. 6 | Aug. 17th | Barrow in a public thoroughfare. | 500,000 | Present in 1/10 cc. |
| No. 7 | Sept. 19th | Barrow in a public thoroughfare. | 3,100,000 | Present in 1/100 cc. |
| No. 8 | Sept. 19th | At a stall outside vendor's shop. | 1,110,000 | Present in 1/1000cc. |
| No. 9 | Sept. 19th | Barrow in a public thoroughfare. | 320,000 | Absent in 1/100 cc. |
Endeavours were made to obtain further samples from the
vendors of samples Nos. 1, 3 and 4. In the second visit to the
vendors of Nos. 1 and 3 it was ascertained that the manufacture of
ice cream had been suspended for the season.
A further sample was, however, obtained from the vendor
of No. 4, and is marked No. 7 in the above summary.