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
Hampstead 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hampstead Borough]
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In 23 cases supplementary licences were granted authorising the
sale of graded milk within the Borough from premises outside
Hampstead.
The special designations which may be used in relation to milk
are, (1) "Tuberculin Tested," which is the only designation for raw
milk from tuberculin-tested cows. If desired this milk can be
pasteurised, and where this is done it must be sold as "Tuberculintested Milk (Pasteurised)." When tuberculin-tested milk is bottled
on the farm the Order permits it to be described as " Tuberculin-tested
Milk (Certified) (2) "Accredited Milk," which is used for the milk
from cows which are inspected by a veterinary surgeon but are not
tuberculin-tested. If the milk has been bottled at the place of production, the words " Farm Bottled" may be added, and (3),
" Pasteurised Milk," which is milk which has been held at a temperature of 145° to 150° F. for thirty minutes.
All these designated milks are periodically tested for cleanliness
and in order to ascertain if the required standards are maintained.
Milk may, of course, be sold without a Special Designation, but
those previously referred to are the only ones that are officially
recognised.
(B) Meat and other Foods.
During the year 5 drinking waters and 45 ice creams were
examined bacteriologically.
It is interesting to note that the bacteriological content of the ice
creams varied from 60 per millilitre to 3,600,000 per millilitre and that
B. Coli were found to be present in 16 of the samples.
In addition to the Chemical Analysis of Food referred to under the heading of "C" Adulteration, etc., the following were examined bacteriologically :—
| Nature of Sample. | Result. |
|---|---|
| Rhubarb and Apple Pie Cut Tongue | No pathogenic bacteria were found. Cultures proved sterile when incubated by aerobic and anaerobic methods. Enrichment methods, however, yielded a copious growth of B. Coli and a few colonies of non-lactose fermenting organisms. The latter organisms proved to be B. Dysenteriæ (Sonne) as shown by serological and biochemical reactions. |
| Do. | Similar results were obtained as from previous specimen. |