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
Hammersmith 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hammersmith Borough]
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Tested" milk remains the same; the requirement that these
milks shall contain no coliform bacillus in 1/100 of a millilitre,
is discontinued.
The tests for Pasteurised milk, a methylene blue test of
30 minutes' duration, and the phosphatase test are unaltered.
The turbidity test is prescribed for Sterilised milk; the
presence of any signs of turbidity indicating that the milk has
not been effectively heated to sterilisation temperatures.
FOOD POISONING.
| Total number of outbreaks. | Number of cases. | Number of deaths. | Organisms or other agents responsible with number of outbreaks of each. | Foods involved with number of outbreaks of each. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 (all in one family). | Nil. | Not isolated. | Suspected food involved was a joint of meat purchased on 9th July, but not finally consumed until 12th July after which date the symptoms occurred. |
In addition to the above, seven cases were notified from
various addresses in the Borough. There were no deaths.
In three of the cases Bacillus Aertrycke was isolated as the
responsible organism, and in one case Salmonella. Organisms
were not isolated in the remaining three cases.
Foods involved included rock salmon, meat pies and duck
eggs, but it was not possible to isolate any organism from any
of these foods.
HAMMERSMITH CLEAN FOOD TRADERS' GUILD.
The Hammersmith Clean Food Traders' Guild was formed
during the year to promote improvement in the conditions
under which foodstuffs are prepared and sold in the Borough
and to encourage the adoption of more hygienic methods of
manufacture, handling and distribution of foodstuffs.
The formation of the Guild followed the presentation of
reports to the Health Committee of the Council, in which it was
shown that whilst in many cases conditions were satisfactory,
in a number of instances the hygienic standards left much to be
desired. It was pointed out that the condition of many
premises had deteriorated during the war. During that period
labour and materials for carrying out necessary repairs and
improvements were scarce, inspection and supervision of food
shops and factories could not be undertaken to the extent that
was the practice in pre-war days, the man-power available to