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than half a dozen objections were made to the Minister and all were withdrawn, after officers of the
Health Department had interviewed the objectors and solved their problems.
Thirdly, to the attitude adopted by the staffs of the various departments of the authority
directly concerned, e.g., Town Clerk's, Borough Treasurer's and Health who apporached the many
new problems with a determination to overcomeall difficulties and see that the task was satisfactorily
completed.
It has been notifiable that in many other authorities the approach by the Council public and
officers to the problems of atmospheric pollution has been a negative one, and they have looked
for grounds on which to delay, or avoid, taking action. In Fulham the reverse has applied and the
emphasis has always been a positive one aimed at cleansing the air as quickly and completely
as possible.
In my experience the attitude of a Council and its officers largely sets the pattern for the
public's response and therein lies the key to the future success or failure of the national Clean
Air campaign.
FOOD HYGIENE
The progress made in the field of hygiene in food premises has been disappointing. This
is a national problem and as I have previously pointed out, little progress can be expected until
the public conscience is aroused and everyone demands clean handling of food at all stages.
It is not sufficient for a food shop to display its pre-packed ware in a chrome-plated, glassfronted,
refrigerated showcase, if conditions in the other parts of the premises where the foodstuffs
are handled or prepared are unhygienic. Unfortunately, these back rooms are never seen by
the public and all too often conditions there are most unhygienic. Similarly with restaurants and
cafes. The part the public sees may be attractive and superficially clean but the handling and
storage of food which is outside the view of the public may be appallingly bad.
The only solution to this problem is the opening up to public view of these inner fastnesses.
Why should the public not see at all stages the conditions under which their food is being handled?
There is no reason why this cannot be done - in fact some of the newer restaurants and cafes now
display their preparation and cooking arrangements openly. This practice should be encouraged
especially in butchers' shops, fishmongers' premises, cafes and restaurants, and the pre-packing
sections of general food shops.
During the year the Ministry of Health issued an excellent series of food hygiene posters
for use in kitchens and canteens. Each poster consisted of a drawning depicting some undesirable
food hygiene practice with an appropriate warning in the caption.
Having previously been asked to speak on food hygiene to the kitchen staff of a large
canteen and finding only one of the audience of approximately 30 persons who understood English,
it occurred to me that there was an urgent need to have the Mini stry of Health posters available
in various languages for distribution to the large number of cafes, restaurants, kitchens and
canteens, etc. which nowadays so often employ foreign nationals.
A check in Fulham revealed that persons from a large number of different nationalities are
nowadays employed in the food industry. To obtain translations of the captions into all the
commoner languages involved proved a far more difficult and protracted task than had at first been
anticipated. I would like to express my thanks to the various embassies and other persons who
kindly co-operated and supplied information.