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chemistry in the University of Michigan, published the results of his examination of a sample of icecream
which had seriously affected 18 persons.* Dr. Yaughan inclined to the view that a chemical
poison was at fault.
In the Lancet, vol. ii., 1888, p. 433, reference is made to an inquest on the death of a child
in St. Pancras. The patient was one of four persons partaking of ice-cream, three of whom were subsequently
taken ill. Question was raised at the inquest upon the fatal case, as to the possible influence
of the " leaden or pewter pot" in which the material was frozen, in producing the illness. Again, Hull
directed attention in the Philadelphia Medical News, vol. 58, to the possible action of the freezing
vessels, used in making ices, as galvanic cells. Such action was, he said, increased, when the appropriate
conditions obtain, if acid fruit juices are used to flavour the material.
In the autumn of 1891 a considerable outbreak of enteric fever in south-east London was
attributed by Dr. George Turner, who investigated the circumstances on behalf of the London County
Council, to the ice-creams sold from certain street barrows by Italian vendors. The particulars
ascertained by Dr. Turner, and given in detail in his report, which was published by the Council, did
not enable him to form an opinion as to how the ice-creams were infected, but facts which he learnt with
regard to certain dwellings occupied by Italians in Mill-lane, Deptford, and which are set out on pages
9 and 10 of his report, showed that abundant opportunity for contamination of the cream at these
premises existed, and led him to the conclusion that the sale of ice-creams " should be regulated in the
same way as the sale of milk."
Since the appearance of Dr. Turner's report no other considerable outbreak of disease has been
attributed in London to ice-cream, but in several isolated instances of death question as to the
possibility of ice-cream poisoning has been raised. Thus ice-creams fell under suspicion in the case of
a death from peritonitis upon which an inquest was held in Islington (Lancet, vol. ii., 1892, p. 498) ;
and again at an inquest held in Marylebone (see Lancet, vol. ii., 1893, p. 316) the jury found that
the death of a young girl was due to " chill " caused by consuming ice-cream. In Glasgow in 1893
a case of illness was traced to ice-cream, and an attempt to register all ice-cream vendors was made.
318 circulars were sent out, and 140 vendors complied. Some difficulty was then, however, experienced,
and a case was tried before the Glasgow sheriff, who decided that a seller of ice-cream could be
registered, under the Dairies and Cowsheds Orders, together with purveyors of milk. On appeal this
decision was reversed. The power of dealing with ice-cream vendors has, however, since been obtained
under a special Act.t
In Blackpool complaints were received that diarrhoea and enteric fever had been caused by the
consumption of ice-cream. The medical officer of health, Dr. Anderson, investigated the matter, but
found there was no evidence as regards enteric fever, and the evidence as regards gastro-enteritis was
not altogether conclusive. Dr. Anderson discussed the question of the manufacture and storage of icecream
generally, and his paper will be found in Public Health for May, 1896. Reference is made
in this paper to cases of ice-cream poisoning which have been reported to the Boards of Health of
Connecticut and Massachusetts.
In Liverpool during 1897, twenty-seven children were attacked by enteric fever, the date of
commencement of their illness indicating that the end of the first week of September was the probable
date of infection. On the 6th and 7th of September, twenty-five of the children had partaken of icecream
sold by an Italian vendor at a fair. " The two remaining sufferers were believed to have eaten
chip potatoes purchased from the said vendor and at the same time." The vendor in question was
found to have an ice-cream factory in a low district of the City of Liverpool, and there was at the time
of the fair a case of typhoid fever in his house.‡ Dr. Hope states in his annual report that forty-eight,
ice-cream makers and vendors in Liverpool had made application for registration of their premises,
and of this number nineteen applications had been refused owing to the unsuitability of the premises ;
the remainder were served with notices setting forth the requirements. During last year parliamentary
powers were obtained for dealing with the manufacture of ice-cream§, and places where ice-cream is
sold and manufactured in Liverpool are now regarded practically as milk-shops.
In June, 1898, an outbreak of ice-cream poisoning occurred at Antwerp. A number of persons
were taken ill after consuming ice-cream from the stall of an itinerant vendor, and some twenty
cases came under treatment at the Stuivenberg hospital. The most striking symptoms of the illness
were low temperature and cyanosis; there was no gastro-intestinal disturbance, vomiting or diarrhoea.
All the patients left hospital the day after admission, save one, a woman who was suffering from an
hysterical attack. The implicated material, on analysis, was found to be good ice-cream.
During the past summer several cases of death in London were attributed to ice-cream
poisoning. In none of these cases was there conclusive evidence that ice-creams were at fault, and in
the majority of them it is quite clear that death was due to other causes. A few of these cases
concerning which information has been obtained may be briefly referred to. They illustrate for the
most part a tendency, which undoubtedly exists at the present time, to assume that in cases in which
ice-cream from an Italian's barrow may have been consumed by a person who is subsequently taken
ill, there is no necessity to obtain further evidence that the illness was caused by the ice-cream.
* Lancet, vol. ii„ 1886, p. 358.
†The Glasgow Corporation and Police Act, 1895, £8 and 59 Vie., cap. 143. Section 28 of this Act provides,
inter alia, that "milk includes ice-cream or any similar commodity manufactured or made either wholly or in
part from or with milk or cream."
‡Report on the Health of Liverpool during 1897, by Dr. E. W. Hope.
§ Liverpool Corporation Act, 1898. Section 32 of this Act prohibits the manufacture or storage of icecream
"in any cellar or room in which there is an inlet or opening to a drain," and provides that proper
precautions shall be taken against infection or contamination of ice-cream or other similar commodity, and for
notice being given of any outbreak of infectious disease amongst persons employed in the business.