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27
Protection of Food Supply.
(A)—INSPECTION OF FOOD PREMISES.
The regular inspection of all premises where food for human consumption
is prepared, stored or sold has always been carried out as a
routine. The Food and Drugs Act, 1955, which came into operation
°n the 1st January, 1956, was a consolidation measure repealing the
Food and Drugs Amendment Act, 1954, and consolidating it with the
Food and Drugs Act, 1938, the Food and Drugs (Milk, Dairies and
Artificial Cream) Act, 1950, and certain other enactments amending
and supplementing Part V of the Act in relation to slaughterhouses and
knackers' yards.
The Food Hygiene Regulations made under the new Act came
into operation on the 1st January, 1956, and have been implemented
during the year. They modify and extend the hygiene requirements in
Section 13 of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938. This section has applied
to premises, yards and forecourts, but the Regulations include a number
or provisions affecting stalls and vehicles, and also certain general
requirements that apply wherever food is handled. They apply to the
supply of food in the course of a business, which is defined so as to
include canteens, clubs, schools and other institutions, as well as
Undertakings carried on by public and local authorities.
The principal extensions of the previous law are:—
(1) Specific requirements designed to prevent the contamination
of food.
(2) Provision of sinks or other facilities for washing food and
equipment.
(3) The provision of a constant supply of hot water for sinks,
and wash basins in food premises, and a supply of hot
water on stalls and vehicles.
(4) Restrictions on the preparation and packing of food in or
about domestic premises.
(5) The condition under which certain foods that provide a
particularly favourable medium for food poisoning organisms
are to be kept in food premises.
(6) A requirement to provide vehicles used for the transport of
meat with duckboards and separate receptacles for offal, and,
where the vehicles are not enclosed, a covering supported
by a frame or poles.
(7) The circumstances in which persons carrying meat are
required to wear overalls and head coverings.
Regulation 31 enables the Council to issue a certificate of
exemption in certain cases where compliance cannot reasonably be
required because of restricted accommodation or some other special
Circumstances. There is an appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction
against the refusal or withdrawal of a certificate.
The Regulations relating to the provision of wash-hand basins,
sinks, hot and cold water supply, clothing accommodation and the
regulation governing the temperature at which certain foods shall
be kept, came into operation on the 1st July, 1956.