View report page

41
The Chairman of the Public Health Committee (Councillor D. F. A.
Fox), stated that for many years it had been a matter of common knowledge
that the conditions under which foodstuffs generally had been
prepared, stored and handled had been unsatisfactory and had been the
cause of considerable notified and un-notified ill-health. He recalled
that the Council had recently reorganised the work of the Sanitary
Inspectors and had placed one Inspector solely on food and food
sampling.
Councillor Fox then proceeded to outline a scheme for the setting
up of a Clean Food Guild with the following as its main objects:—
1. The promotion and improvement of the hygienic manufacture,
handling and distribution of foodstuffs (both food and drink).
2. The encouragement of the observance of all statutory standards
of hygiene.
3. The application of codes of practice drawn up and agreed by an
Advisory Committee drawn from members of the association or
guild.
He stressed the fact that this was to be a Guild of Traders and in no
sense a Council Guild, and suggested that the Meeting should set up an
Advisory Committee to consider requirements of membership, subscriptions,
constitution and rules.
This Committee was subsequently formed, consisting of seven
members representing grocers, the Co-operative Society, dairymen,
butchers, bakers and Kosher Meat Retailers' Association.
Unfortunately, little progress was able to be made for the rest of
the year as the matter of standardising the rules, subscriptions, etc., was
being considered by the Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing Joint Committee
on behalf of all the Metropolitan Boroughs. These considerations
also came to a standstill as this last named Committee in its turn was
awaiting the report of the Working Party on the Catering Trade.
This report has recently been published and it is hoped that useful
information will be received from the Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing
Joint Committee which will enable all the Metropolitan Boroughs to
complete the formation of their Guilds and put the Codes of Practice into
operation.