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7,026 lbs. in fruit and greengrocery shops. Of the meat, 22i pigs and 8 pigs' heads were seized on account
of their being tuberculous, and Dr. Dudfield states that a practice has been adopted which renders it
impossible, except on rare occasions, to say whether the "dressed" carcase of pigs are or are not tuberculous.
"The lymphatic glands, tonsils, etc., are usually so minced up—when not cut out—that it is impossible
to form any opinion as to their freedom from disease." "Carcases for delivery in Paddington are almost
always held back for special inspection, but where the 'stripping' takes place is not definitely known. It
is not done in the borough." Summonses were taken out in eight instances under section 47 of the
Public Health (London) Act in respect of unsound food, in five instances the food was unsound pork,
and all the summonses in respect of pork were dismissed. In connection with some of these cases Dr.
Dudfield writes that "In May of last year summonses were heard at the Guildhall Court touching
pigs which were purchased at the Central Meat Market, and condemned on inspection by the Council's
staff after delivery at the local shop. He states that the facts of the case have been laid before the
Local Government Board, who have decided to enquire into meat inspection in the metropolis.
In Hackney the slaughterhouses were inspected as far as possible at the time of slaughtering,
and the whole or parts of carcases unfit for food were seized. In a preserved meat factory, of whic h
there are six in the district, a pig's head was found to be badly affected with tuberculosis. The head
wa3 seized, and the firm in Wiltshire which had sent the pig's head to the local manufacturer was
summoned and convicted. Other articles of food were also seized in this district during the year.
Among various articles seized in Shoreditch were a number of tins of condensed milk which
were said to have been machine skimmed and prepared in Holland. These tins were found to be blown
and their contents to be unfit for human food. The condition of the tins was brought by the owner
to the notice of the Shoreditch Sanitary Authority. He had purchased them from a man in West
Ham who had previously carried on business in Stepney, where he had been convicted of selling condensed
milk unfit for human food. Dr. Bryett says: "It appears that he was in the habit of buying
damaged stocks of tinned foods of various descriptions, such as meat, fish, fruits, etc., with a view to
separating what was fit for food and rejecting what was unfit." With respect to the tins found in Shoreditch,
it was impossible to prove their condition when they were received by the Shoreditch tradesman,
as they had been in his possession for some time and it was therefore not deemed advisable to institute
proceedings.
In Stepney, 735 tons, 3 cwt., 1 qr. and 10 lbs. of food stuff were destroyed during the
year, mostly vegetables and fruit. A difficulty met with in the inspection of food is commented on
by Dr. Thomas as due to the sale on the same premises of food which is sold for human food with that
which is used as cats' meat. It is claimed if diseased meat is found that it is intended for cats' meat,
and it is impossible to go behind this statement, although in particular instances no reliance can be
placed on the intention of the vendor. In one case diseased livers were found on a butcher's premises,
who pleaded that they were intended for sale to a tripe dresser, who selected those which were fit for
human food. The summons was dismissed by the magistrate, but the matter being brought before the
Licensing Committee of the London County Council, who had cautioned him but three years before,
the Committee refused to renew the licence for his slaughterhouses.
In Poplar several pigs' heads were surrendered owing to being diseased, but the carcases belonging
to the heads were not upon the premises, as the heads had been purchased separately. In one instance
diseased lungs were found in a sausage factory and the butcher was prosecuted and convicted.
Prosecutions for the sale of unsound food were instituted in some of the other London districts.
In Battersea and in Bethnal-green there were ten prosecutions, in Bermondsey nine, and a smaller
number in Fulham, Chelsea, Westminster, St. Pancras, Stoke Newington, Southwark, Lambeth,
Wandsworth and Woolwich. Both in Bermondsey and Westminster pigs' heads were seized. In the
former district the vendor of five pigs' heads, four half-pigs' heads and one piece of bacon was sentenced
to three months' imprisonment, and in the latter district the vendor of a tuberculous pig's head and pork
was fined £10.
The need for the employment of special inspectors for inspection of food has been previously
pointed out in these reports, and the results obtained in those districts where the inspection of meat in
slaughterhouses is thus undertaken shows the advantage of such employment. This need for
more thorough inspection of meat in London districts is now emphasised by recent seizures of pigs
or parts of pigs found to be tuberculous. The observations of Dr. Reginald Dudfield show that
tuberculous glands are removed from the head before it arrives on the local vendors' premises, equivalent,
as he points out, to the stripping of the tuberculous pleura from the carcases of cattle. The extent
to which the meat of tuberculous pigs is supplied to the consumer cannot be stated, but in the
absence of public slaughterhouses where all animals killed would be examined at the time of
slaughter and of the systematic inspection of all carcases, it is obvious there can be no adequate
control over the sale of tuberculous pork.
The Sale of Ice Cream.
The conditions of premises on which ice cream is manufactured is controlled under the provisions
of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1902, which conferred special powers upon
London sanitary authorities for that purpose. The annual reports of medical officers of health show that
these powers are being actively exercised, and thus a number of premises have been brought under
inspection. Some of these places were obviously unsuitable for the purpose. Thus, in Hackney, in five
instances living rooms were found to be used for this purpose contrary to the provisions of the Act.
The medical officer of health, however, states that the premises were mostly found to be clean, and in