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
Kensington 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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— 58 —
it is an offence to sell;, offer, or expose for sale, or to be
in possession for the purpose of sale or preparation for sale,
food intended for human consumption which is in an unfit
condition Such food can be seized and taken before a Justice
of the Peace who can condemn it, and order it to be destroyed
or disposed of for purposes other than human consumption.
In two cases during the year quantities of dried fruit
weighing approximately one ton were found in a food factory in
a mouldy and fermented condition. The food was seized and
taken before a Justice of the Peace, who condemned it and ordered
it to be destroyed.
Surrender
Any person having in his possession, food which is diseased,
unsound, or unfit for human consumption can, under Section 180(8)
of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, surrender it to the
Council for destruction or other suitable method of disposal.
During the year the following amounts of food were surrendered and condemned as unfit for human consumption:-
| Meat (Tinned) | — | 9 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ham | — | 5 | 3 | 19 | |
| Sausages | — | 8 | — | 6 | |
| Poultry and Rabbits | — | 2 | 2 | 21 | |
| Pish (Wet and Dry) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | |
| Fish (Shell) | — | 2 | 3 | 11 | |
| Scotch Oats | — | — | — | 2 | |
| Mortadella | — | 5 | 3 | 25 | |
| Beef Suet | — | — | — | 8½ | |
| Self Raising Flour | — | — | — | 15 | |
| Cheese | — | — | 3 | 6½ | |
| Fishcakes | — | — | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomatoes | — | 5 | 3 | 6 | |
| Bananas | — | 2 | — | 6 | |
| Dried Fruit | 1 | 2 | 22 | ||
| TOTAL: | 6 | 19 | 2 | 10 | |
| Tins, jars, packets or cartons of fruit, vegetables and miscellaneous foodstuffs | |||||
| 7,947 | |||||
| Chocolate teacakes | 62 | ||||
| Dates | 12 boxes | ||||
| Yam flour | 1 bag | ||||
| Fondant Creams | 110 cases | ||||
All food condemned as unfit for human consumption is
collected by the Council, taken to their refuse destructor in
Wood Lane and destroyed. In no instance, were large quantities
of food involved, necessitating special examination of stocks
of food.
Pharmacy and Poisons Act, 1933
At the end of the year the number of sellers of Part II
Poisons (other than registered pharmacists) on the list
maintained by the Council was one hundred and thirty—three. Of
this number, four were new registrations during the year.
During the year a sample of ammonia was obtained from a