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
Greenwich 1964
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
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| Article | How Obtained | Examination | Action Taken | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bact. or Chem. | Result | |||
| Large White Sliced Loaf | Complaint from member of pub-lic that loaf con-tained foreign matter. | Chem. | Specimen con-tained discoloured areas in the crumb caused by the inclusion of a small quantity of a mixture of charred flour, iron particles and grease. | The manufacturer gave a satisfactory explanation b u t was warned of the serious view taken of the offence. |
NOTIFICATION OF FOOD POISONING
Under the provisions of Section 26 of the Food and Drugs Act,
1955, every registered medical practitioner attending on any person
shall, if he suspects or becomes aware that any person is suffering
from food poisoning, forthwith notify such case to the Medical
Officer of Health.
Twelve notifications were received during the year, of which,
one was subsequently diagnosed as sonne dysentery. Four other
cases notified as dysentery were re-diagnosed as food poisoning
thus giving a final total of 15 cases.
The numbers of food poisoning cases during previous years were as follows:—
| Year | Notifications | Year | Notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 6 | 1958 | 39 |
| 1962 | 7 | 1957 | 17 |
| 1961 | 22 | 1956 | 23 |
| 1960 | 42 | 1955 | 14 |
| 1959 | 43 | 1954 | 12 |
All the current cases, which were of the sporadic type, were
investigated with the following results:—