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
Southwark 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, Borough of]
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BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF FROZEN SHELLFISH, 1968
| Country of orign | Type | No. of Samples taken | Viable counts at 37°C. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 100,000 | 100,000 1,000,000 | More than 1,000,000 | |||
| Australia | Raw prawns | 13 | 10 | 3 | _ |
| Bahrein | Raw prawns | 8 | 6 | 2 | — |
| Cooked prawns | 4 | 4 | — | — | |
| Brazil | Raw prawns | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Cooked prawns | 2 | 2 | — | — | |
| Lobster tails | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | |
| Cooked lobster | 2 | 2 | — | — | |
| Rock lobster | 3 | 3 | _ | — | |
| Canada | Cooked prawns | 9 | 8 | 1 | — |
| Crab meat | 10 | 10 | — | — | |
| Lobster meat | 2 | 2 | — | — | |
| Ceylon | Raw prawns | 2 | — | 2 | — |
| Chile | Cooked prawns | 66 | 59 | 7 | — |
| China | Raw prawns | 34 | 20 | 13 | 1 |
| Cuba | Raw prawns | 34 | 5 | 26 | 3 |
| Lobster tails | 67 | 22 | 43 | 2 | |
| Formosa | Cooked prawns | 4 | 4 | _ | — |
| Greenland | Cooked prawns | 6 | 6 | — | — |
| Hong Kong | Raw prawns | 21 | 5 | 16 | — |
| Cooked prawns | 28 | 23 | 4 | 1 | |
| Lobster tails | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
| Lobster meat | 1 | 1 | _ | — | |
| India | Cooked prawns | 11 | 9 | 2 | — |
| Indonesia | Raw prawns | 32 | 12 | 19 | 1 |
| Japan | Cooked prawns | 78 | 74 | 4 | — |
| Lobster tails | 1 | — | 1 | — | |
| Lobster meat | 1 | — | 1 | — | |
| Crab meat | 8 | 6 | 2 | — | |
| Korea | Raw prawns | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| Cooked prawns | 5 | 2 | 3 | — | |
| Malaya | Raw prawns | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Cooked prawns | 2 | 2 | — | ||
| Norway | Cooked prawns | 12 | 10 | 2 | — |
| Pakistan | Raw prawns | 64 | 4 | 20 | 24 |
| (16 samples not examined for plate count) | |||||
| Cooked prawns | 3 | 3 | — | — | |
| Panama | Cooked prawns | 2 | — | 2 | — |
| Senegal | Raw prawns | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Cooked prawns | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | |
| South Africa | Raw prawns | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| Cooked prawns | 8 | 7 | 1 | — | |
| Taiwan | Raw prawns | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Thailand | Raw prawns | 16 | 1 | 9 | 6 |
| U.S.A. | Cooked prawns | 28 | 27 | 1 | — |
| Crab meat | 15 | 15 | — | — | |
| Totals | 658 | 382 | 211 | 49 | |
Consignments of cooked shellfish showing viable counts in excess of 1,000,000 were detained.
Where a consignment showed a viable count of between 100,000 and 1,000,000, the importer was
warned that the shellfish should be used immediately after defrosting.
A sample taken from a consignment of Pakistani Freshwater Raw Prawns was found to contain
Salmonella Stanley. The consignment was detained and subsequently released for re-export to Rotterdam
with the necessary safeguards.
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