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

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City of Westminster 1968

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]

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37
Milk (Special Designation) Regulations, 1963 (as amended)
The City Council is responsible for the granting on application of Dealer's Licences in relation to
pre-packed milks sold under the special designations "Untreated", "Ultra Heat Treated", "Pasteurised"
and/or "Sterilised".

A Dealer's Licence permits the sale of milk both outside as well as inside the area of the licensing authority. The numbers of such licences current in the City at the end of 1968 were

Untreated74 (74)
Ultra Heat Treated108 (96)
Pasteurised348 (353)
Sterilised246 (246)

Milk supplies—Brucella abortus
Brucella abortus is the organism associated with contagious abortion in cattle and its transmission
to man occurs through drinking raw milk. As almost the entire supply of milk sold and consumed
in Westminster is heat-treated, no tests to determine the presence of this organism were
carried out during the year
Food and Drugs Act, 1955—Section 16
Under this Act no premises shall be used for:-
(a) the sale, or the manufacture for the purpose of sale, of ice cream, or storage of ice cream,
intended for sale, or
(b) the preparation or manufacture of sausages, or potted, pressed, pickled or preserved food
intended for sale,
unless they are registered for that purpose by the local authority. Premises used wholly or mainly
as catering premises, or as a school or club are exempt from these requirements and those used as
a theatre, cinematographic theatre, music hall or concert hall, are exempt from registration in
respect of the sale and storage of ice cream.
The number of premises registered with the City Council at the 31 st December, 1968 is shewn in
Table 26, page 91.
The Liquid Egg (Pasteurisation) Regulations, 1963
There are no egg pasteurisation plants in Westminster, and any liquid egg used at premises in
the City would be subject to supervision by the local authority at the place of manufacture or
examined on import.
Food Poisoning
During the year, information was received of some 300 persons stated to be suffering from
food poisoning. Not all were notified as such; in fact most of the incidents which come to the notice
of the Health Department are never officially notified. Sometimes the investigation following the
report of a single case discloses that others have also been involved. The difficulty of obtaining
information regarding an outbreak is that by the time symptoms are experienced the sufferers have
usually gone their own way, and much time can be expended in seeking details from them individually.
Nevertheless this effort must be made for it may result in the prevention of a further outbreak from
the same source, particularly where heat resistant Clostridium welchii is responsible. As will be
noted in the following reports, this organism accounted for several cases during the year. Had the
persons concerned with the preparation of the food been aware of the nature of the organism, and
of the requirements of the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations, 1960 in relation to temperature
control, it is conceivable that much of the illness might have been prevented.
It may be of interest to recall that Clostridium welchii is a spore-bearing organism which lives in
the intestinal tract of animals and man, and frequently gains access to raw meat and poultry before
these products reach the kitchen. The danger from this organism is that in its spore-form it can
survive cooking, and this is particularly so with large masses of meat and poultry as the heat does
not then penetrate fully. If after cooking meat is allowed to cool slowly or is kept in a warm kitchen
for any length of time, or is warmed-up later, or is subjected to a combination of these conditions,
the surviving spores will germinate and lead to a rapid growth of the organisms. Illness results
from dosage of the organisms beyond the resistance of the individual.