London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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St Pancras 1904

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, London, Borough of]

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SUMMONSES.

Under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, in respect of food.

Situation.Offence.Result of Proceedings.
Chalton StreetExposing for sale 14 unsound pigs' livers.Defendant sentenced to 6 weeks' imprisonment.
Allcroft RoadExposing for sale a quantity of unsound bacon.Fined £5 and £1 3s. costs.
„ „Fined £2 and £1 3s. costs.
„ „Fined £5 and £3 3s. costs. In default 1 month.
„ „Summons dismissed. Defendant proving to the satisfaction of the Magistrate that he was not the owner of the bacon.
Seaton StreetA hock of unsound bacon.Fined £2 and £1 6s. costs.
Chalton StreetExposing for sale on a stall one fore-end of unsound bacon.Defendant sentenced to 6 weeks' imprisonment with hard labour.

§ 3. ADULTERATED FOOD.
Adulterated Milk.—Wholesomeness is a question of health, and adulteration
and substitution mainly a question of fraud.
Foreign Milk.—It appeared that during 1901 some 8 cwts. of foreign fresh
milk were sent from Norway to the port of Newcastle, some 11 cwts. from
Holland, and 4 cwts. from Victoria, Australia, to the port of London, and some
14,500 cwts. from France to the port of Southampton. These appeared to be
experimental attempts to import fresh milk into England, and the milk that
passed through Southampton in 100-gallon drums was sent to London and to
a St. Pancras firm in a frozen state. In 1903 some hundreds of cwts. of milk
were in addition sent from France to Newliaven, but as during that year the
total quantity imported into England was considerably less, the experiments
did not appear to be very successful. Questions asked in the House of
Commons in March and April, 1903, by Sir Edward Stracliey, elicited similar
information with additional details. The Customs Officials take samples of
these milks so that their quality is under control, and unless some harmless
mode of preservation is successful there is little probability of any great
increase of importation at present.
Country Milk.—In 1902 inquiries were made into the milk passing through
the railway stations and depots in St. Pancras, and the quantities consigned
respectively by each of the numerous consignors in the country to each of
the numerous consignees in London. In the same year inquiry was also made
of every milk retailer in St. Pancras as to the sources of his supply. Thus
from both ends a practically complete record was obtained of the milk supply
of St. Pancras. In 1903 inquiry was made of the Medical Officers of Health