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156
During the year many systematic efforts have been made to detect
the sale of diseased meat within the Borough, and I am. glad to saythat
almost without exception our inspections have not called for the
seizure of unwholesome meat.
At the present time the purchaser of meat in London has no
means of knowing whether it has been subjected to inspection.
In the Fortieth Annual Report of the Local Government Board,
1910-11, it is stated that "cases have been brought to our notice
in which cattle suffering from Tuberculosis or other diseases have
been brought into towns, where they are slaughtered and sold for
human food. We have been aware of the danger of this practice
for some years past, and have drawn the attention of Local Authorities
to the matter. We suggested that the condition of all cows
coming under the notice of the Authority's Officers should be particularly
observed, and all practicable steps taken to ensure that,
if any diseased animal should be slaughtered, it was not sold for
human food."
In this matter of meat inspection the Local Sanitary Authorities
are charged with a duty which it is quite impossible to adequately
carry out in default of public abattoirs; and the public is in quite a
false position in believing that the sanitary officials, appointed to
administer the provisions of the Public Health Act which aim at protecting
the public from unsound food, are capable of doing their
duty under existing circumstances. The difficulty is, that with the
existing private slaughter-house we are quite unable to inspect them
adequately. Their number, the distances apart, and the various
times at which slaughtering takes place, combine to make it quite
impossible for an official to make that inspection immediately prior
to slaughter, at the time of slaughter, and immediately afterwards,
which alone suffices to detect most of those diseases which render flesh
unwholesome as food. It is quite impossible for an inspector, however
skilful he may be, to detect unwholesome conditions of meat
when this has been trimmed and prepared for sale in the shops. As