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FOOD
FOOD HYGIENE
Much is being done today towards developing a new conception of
food hygiene. Conferences of national status have discussed this matter
and it has been the subject of articles and comments in the national
press. Food guilds, lectures and exhibitions have been organised, all
doing their part to make the public food-hygiene conscious.
The sanitary condition of premises and equipment is also fundamental
to food hygiene. During the year 1,372 visits were made by the food
inspector to food premises in the Borough and in a number of cases
improvements to premises and equipment were carried out. Opportunity
has been taken to discuss with food traders and their staffs the practical
application of the principles involved in food hygiene, and this combined
with well-equipped premises and an increasing public discrimination
in favour of the better appointed shop must have beneficial results.
Adequate protection of fish, both wet and dry, displayed for sale in
fish shops continues to be a problem in the manner in which it is
exposed for sale. The National Federation of Fishmongers and Poulterers
recently cast doubt on the hygiene efficiency of glass fronting;
and fish intended for human consumption continues in many cases to
be subjected to the risk of contamination by dust and flies and the area
near the shop has the doubtful enjoyment of the odour of fish.
Similar objections were voiced some years ago by the butchers when
suggestions were made that meat should not be exposed in open-fronted
shops but now every butcher's shop in Hornsey is glass-fronted, and
with adequate refrigeration the keeping quality of the meat is not impaired.
A glass-fronted fish shop properly planned and constructed with
suitable and adequate ventilation would similarly keep fish in good
condition and free from contamination.
Three fish shops in the Borough have been provided with partial
glass-fronts and it is hoped that the practice will extend to all fish shops.
Throughout the country the sampling of food and drugs is carried
out either by sanitary inspectors, weights and measures inspectors or
the police, according to long-established custom. In Hornsey this work
is done by the weights and measures inspectors of the Middlesex County
Council who are the Food and Drugs Authority. These inspectors are
also now responsible for the supervision and licensing of processing
plants for pasteurising and sterilising milk. The Borough Council is
responsible for the inspection of all premises used for the distribution
of milk.
Food and drugs sampling and milk supervision are essentially public
health measures which it is felt should be an integral part of the environmental
health services of the district.
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