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19.
There is very little deliberate contamination of food by
shopkeepers nowadays and most of the unsatisfactory samples
are the result of inadequate labelling - usually on imported
products, faulty machines or mechanical processes in the
preparation of the food, bad storage conditions, and lastly lapses by
the human element concerned in the supervision or handling of
foodstuffs.
Complaints are occasionally received concerning coffee bars
situated in residential districts but the nuisances involved are
generally matters for the police. Until legislation is provided
which controls the establishment of this type of restaurant little
can be done.
The number of inspections of foodshops was very high this year,
mainly as the result of enquiries concerning canned meat which was
the suspected cause of an outbreak of typhoid fever in Aberdeen.
OFFICES SHOPS AND RAILWAY PREMISES ACT. 1963
This Act came into force on the 1st August and consequently
there has not been sufficient time to judge the full impact which
the Act will have.
Despite extensive advertisement by the Ministry firms were
very slow to register. At the end of the year 757 premises had been
placed on the register and of these 138 had been inspected.
Generally speaking the defects found were of a minor nature.