London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Paddington 1952

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]

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Note.—There are 117 (115) shops registered for the sale of milk and 193 (170) premises registered for tl
of ice-cream.
Food Factories :—
There are 11 (11) food factories in the Borough including 3 (3) ice-cream factories.
Street Traders :—
Coffee stalls 7 (11) Greengrocers' rounds 12 (18)
Greengrocers' stalls 32 (33) Ice-cream stalls 2 (2)
Animal Food Dealers :—
There are two cats' meat shops in the Borough as last year.
Catering Establishments :—
The following establishments hold catering licences from the Ministry of Food
Private hotels 169 (164) Staff canteens 51 (55)
Industrial canteens19 (17) Institutions 15 (16)
Public Houses 83 (83)

Milk Licences.—Licences in force at the end of the year are given in the table below.

Dealers' principal LicencesDealers' Supplementary Licences
To sell—"Pasteurised" milk77 (65)19 (20)
"Sterilised" milk113 (101)22 (20)
" Tuberculin tested" milk58 (75)19 (20)

CLEAN FOOD.— In my last Annual Report, this subject was dealt with at some length stressing the following points :—
(i) the necessity for the insistence by the shopping public upon the hygienic handling of food by shop assistants ;
(ii) the necessity for the housewife herself to use every care in the storage of food and the preparation of meals
in the home;
(iii) the need for consistently practising elementary precautions such as seeing that everyone washes their
hands after using the water-closet ; covering any sores on the hands when preparing food ; and keeping all food
covered from flies ;
and I have repeated these points briefly above because their importance cannot be over-emphasized ; and also in the
hope that this reminder will keep everyone on the alert.
Further I would mention the continuous effort of the food inspectors to improve the standards of the public eating
places and food shops. Their vigilance is unceasing and if the shopping public maintain their vigilance also, I am
confident that cases of food poisoning from that source will be extremely rare.
In many instances the shopkeeper is handicapped by the type of premises he occupies. In some cases the desire
to make improvements is thwarted either by the prohibitive cost of the alterations desired or by the very structure of
the premises restricting efforts in this direction.
Every month the Public Health Committee have before them the report of the food inspectors on conditions
found and action taken at food shops and restaurants chosen at random from their visits and inspections, and it is no
exaggeration to say that with the co-operation and willingness of all persons concerned, steady progress is being made
towards achieving the best conditions possible in establishments where food is prepared and handled. The London
County Council bye-laws for the protection of food which came into force on the 3rd November it is hoped will materially
assist the Council's efforts.
SHOPS ACTS.—The Shops Acts Inspectors made 1,351 (1,500) visits. No statutory action was necessary, all contraventions
found being dealt with informally.
MASS RADIOGRAPHY.—The following information has been provided by the Organising Secretary of the Mass
X-ray Unit No. 5B :—
Mass radiography in Paddington during 1952 consisted of two separate types of survey.
Early in the year the hospitals and chest clinic were suffering from a severe shortage of full-size x-ray film,
and the Unit's help was sought to take as many of their x-rays as the medical authorities considered justified. As