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34
Bakehouses
There are 27 bakehouses in the Borough and during the year
120 visits by the food inspectors were made to these premises.
Eleven of the bakehouses are in basements and, as such, are subject
to the provisions of section 70 of the Factories Act, 1961. Certificates
of suitability under this Act were granted in all cases.
Bacteriological Examination of Food
One hundred and sixty-one food samples were examined
bacteriologically at the Public Health Laboratory during the year,
and details are given below
Milk 24
Ice Cream 73
Prawns and lobsters 37
Miscellaneous 27
Total 161
Milk
The 24 samples of milk submitted to the turbidity test were
reported to be satisfactory.
Ice-cream
The 73 samples of ice-cream were examined at the Public Health
Laboratory by the methylene-blue test. The grading is determined
by the length of time taken to decolourize the methylene blue,
grade 1 indicating the highest standard bacteriologically.
The following table gives a summary of the results: —
Grade Number of Samples
1 34
2 13
3 12
4 I4
Total 73
Prawns and lobsters
The 37 samples submitted were random samples taken from
imported consignments held in cold storage prior to release to the
importers.
Miscellaneous
The 27 miscellaneous food samples proved to be free from
pathogenic organisms.
Analysis of Food and Drugs
During the year 1,000 samples of food and drugs were submitted
for analysis: 151 samples of milk, 785 other foodstuffs
and 64 drugs. Of these, 63 were submitted as formal samples, while
937 were purchased informally. Seven of the formal samples and
81 of the informal samples were found to be adulterated or below
standard, representing 8.8 per cent, of the total samples submitted.
Details of these 88 samples are given in the Report on the
work of the Public Analyst which follows.