View report page

43
own interest as well as that of their clients they bring it to the
attention of prospective purchasers. The provisions for
making improvement grants do not appear to be so well known
in spite of the publicity which has been promoted by the Council.
It may be that the builders who are more generally concerned with
improvements, are either not as well informed or that they do
not see the same need or obligation to advise their clients as the
house agents do with regard to purchase.
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD
The great increase in the prepacking of many commoner
foods brought about by the adoption of self-service methods has
necessitated close observation and frequent sampling to check
their contents and the correctness of their labelling.
Many new varieties of canned and packeted food have
appeared on the market during the year, most of which are of
foreign origin. These commodities are continually being submitted,
informally, to the Public Analyst for approval as they appear
in local shops.
On the whole, the results have been reasonably satisfactory
and importers have immediately arranged to rectify any errors of
omission or commission, particularly with regard to the labelling
requirements of the Food and Drugs Act, 1955.
There appears to have been an increase locally in the
number of complaints of "foreign bodies" in food, dirty milk
bottles, the sale of mouldy articles of food and the like. All
these complaints were thoroughly investigated and where the
offences occurred in articles manufactured outside the borough,
a report was obtained from the Medical Officer of Health in whose
area the food premises were situated.
Legal proceedings were authorised in respect of five such
offences but the cases were not heard until 1961.
Chemical Sampling of Foods
Mr. Eric Voelcker, A.R.C.S. , F.R.I.C. , Public Analyst
to the Borough, has examined and reported upon 501 samples
which can be classified under the following broad headings:-