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67
Food.
During 1925, the usual careful attention has been
given to foodstuffs sold in the Borough as to the conditions
under which they are manufactured and kept.
A particular matter which has engaged our attention
in this regard is the Public Health (Meat) Regulations,
1924. I gave these Regulations in some detail in my
last annual report, and it is unnecessary, therefore,
for me to recapitulate them. The main matter with
which we are concerned in Fulham is the state of the
butchers' shops and the exposure of meat to contamination
from dust, dirt, etc., from the street. The
Regulations are unfortunately not worded very definitely,
and the position has been rendered still more
difficult by the issue of Circular 604 by the Minister of
Health in which the following paragraph occurs:—
"Article 2 (1) (Definition of Meat):—The Minister's intention
in making the Regulations was that, apart from the
special case of bacon and ham, they should apply to what is
ordinarily known as butchers' meat, that is to say the raw and
untreated edible parts of the carcases of slaughtered cattle,
swine, sheep and goats. Questions have been raised whether
the Regulations apply to rabbits, poultry, fish, butter, margarine
and cheese. It is clear that the definition of meat would not
include these articles, and the Minister thinks that Local
Authorities might also properly treat cooked meat, lard, sausages
and other preparations of or containing meat as outside the
scope of the Regulations."
It seems to the ordinary mind manifestly absurd
that cooked meat, which is eaten in the condition in
which it is sold, should be outside the scope of the
Regulations, whereas raw meat, which is subsequently
cooked, must be protected from contamination. Circular
604 also contains the following:
" Article 20 (5) (a):—It was not contemplated that this
provision should be construed as requiring all butchers' shops
to be provided with glass fronts, and the precautions which it
may be reasonable to require under this provision must depend
on the circumstances of individual cases. It seems to the
Minister that in its enforcement, the corresponding provisions
of Article 19 (b) and (d) should be borne in mind and that the
same general standard of freedom from contamination should be
aimed at both for shops and for stalls.