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 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.
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70
MEAT AND OTHER FOODS.
Registration of Food Premises.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 187 of the Public
Health (London) Act, 1936, the number of premises entered in
the register at the end of 1936 for these purposes was:—
Manufacture of sausages 170
Preparation or manufacture of potted, pickled or
preserved meat and fish 298
Fried fish shops 92
*Sale, manufacture or storage of ice cream 387
All these premises were regularly inspected by the Food
Inspector throughout the year.
* Note. — Ice Cream was not made nor sold at 113 premises.
At the end of 1936 there were 141 street traders licensed to
sell articles of food from stalls in the market places of this Borough.
Summary Showing the Number of Animals Slaughtered and Inspected During 1936.
| Month. | Cattle. | Sheep. Lambs. | Pigs. | Calves. | Totals. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| February | 4 | 26 | 21 | – | 51 |
| March | 2 | 29 | 21 | – | 52 |
| April | 2 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 23 |
| May | 2 | 19 | 1 | – | 22 |
| June | 3 | 24 | 22 | – | 49 |
| July | 1 | 25 | 14 | – | 40 |
| August | 2 | 19 | 3 | – | 24 |
| September | 3 | 26 | 25 | – | 54 |
| October | 2 | 25 | 24 | – | 51 |
| November | 2 | 20 | 37 | – | 59 |
| December | 11 | 26 | 71 | – | 108 |
| Totals | 36 | 275 | 245 | 2 | 558 |
The inspection of food offered for sale in street markets occupies
an important part of the Food Inspector's duties and often necessitates
his working in the evenings, particularly on Saturdays.
The quality of the goods sold at these markets is maintained at a
high standard and if by chance a bad purchase is made by the
trader at the wholesale market he invariably takes steps to
surrender the unsound articles of food and to obtain a condemnation
certificate from this department. This certificate is generally all
that is needed to enable the trader to recover the cost of his
purchase from the wholesaler.
Butcher Shops and Meat Stalls.
There were 163 retail butcher shops and one butcher's stall
in the Borough at the end of the year.
There were also 3 shops from which the sale of butchers' offal
was conducted.