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FOOD
Regular routine inspections of food premises under the Food
Hygiene Regulations have continued throughout the year particular
attention being paid to premises where minor infringements of Regulations
were suspected and to premises most likely to give cause for
complaint. It is the practice of the department when minor
contraventions are found for the public health inspector to request
verbally that these be corrected and this action normally results in
matters being put right without delay. In cases where more serious
contraventions of the Regulations are found to have arisen these are
listed in writing to the person responsible with the object of providing
him with an opportunity to offer his observations on the matter for
the Council's consideration.
In November, 1962, a member of the public brought to the
Health Department a loaf containing mouse excreta and inspection
showed that the condition of the bakehouse was unsatisfactory and
justified the formal reporting of the facts to the Council, upon whose
instructions legal proceedings were instituted. The hearing of the
complaint by the magistrates was still awaited at the end of the year.
Other cases of alleged unsatisfactory foodstuff being sold to
members of the public have been brought to the attention of the
department. In one the magistrates imposed a fine with costs against
a dairy company for selling milk in an unclean bottle; in another,
where a mouldy pork pie had been sold to a customer, the Council
decided that warnings to the shopkeeper and to the producer of the
foodstuff would most adequately meet the circumstances of the matter.
Instances where foodstuffs alleged to have been sold in an
unsatisfactory or unhygienic condition are brought to the attention of
the department continue to increase, and a full investigation made in
each case. However the increase in the number of cases does not
necessarily arise from any general lowering in the standard of care
exercised in the handling of the food, but rather stems from an
increasing awareness and vigilance on the part of the customer. A
knowledge of the technical processes of food preparation and a record
of the history of the firm or shop involved, can permit of a balanced
and reasonable assessment of the degree of liability for carelessness
applicable in each instance, and it is desirable that all cases of
apparently unsatisfactory foodstuff should be brought to the appropriate
authority.
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