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2
Dr. Hamer's Report.
The inspections and inquiries which form the subject of this report were commenced early in
March last, the objects held in view being to ascertain the existing arrangements for inspection of food
coming into London by river, and to earn the general outcome of recent experience of the practical
working of the system of inspection now in operation.
Vessels entering the port are unloaded in the docks, in the river, or at riverside wharves. The
goods from a vessel which enters a dock may either be warehoused on the dock premises, or be
conveyed out of the dock by lighters to a wharf or warehouse fronting the river. The Port Sanitary
Committee of the City Corporation exercises jurisdiction over the waters of the port and over the
area within the dock gates, including wharves and buildings. The riverside wharves and buildings,
on the other hand, are under the jurisdiction of the several riparian health authorities, those mainly
concerned with the landing of food stuffs being the Sanitary Authorities of the City of London, Bermondsey,
Southwark and Stepney. Poplar and Lambeth receive food stuffs at one or two wharves
only, and quite exceptionally other river districts (Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich for example)
furnish the place of entry for comparatively small consignments of food materials.
The suggestion had been made, and at a public local inquiry held in April, 1903, by Dr. Theodore
Thomson on behalf of the Local Government Board, this uggestion was supported by the London
and India Docks Company, that the jurisdiction of the Port Sanitary Authority (City Corporation)
might with advantage be extended to wharves and warehouse premises under the jurisdiction of the
Borough Councils. The City Corporation did not resist th's application, but the Borough Councils
objected to being deprived of their existing obligations and rights, and with the support of the County
Council opposed the transfer. In the result, the Local Government Board decided not to extend the
Port Sanitary Authority's jurisdiction. At this inquiry detailed evidence was given by the port, county,
city and riparian borough council medical officers on the system of inspection then in operation, and
it may be well at the outset to summar'se this evidence, at the same time bringing it up-to-date, by
stating that, for purposes of river inspection—
The City Corporation in its capacity as Port Sanitary Authority employs three special
food inspectors.
The City Corporation in its capacity as health authority in the City employs one special
wharf and warehouse inspector.
The Southwark Borough Council employs a special food inspector, whose attention,
wholly devoted to food inspection, is mainly directed to wharves and warehouses on the
river.
The Stepney Borough Council also employs a special food inspector whose attention,
wholly devoted to food inspection, is mainly directed to wharves and warehouses on the
river.
The Bermondsey Borough Council has no special food inspector—the river wharves and
warehouses are almost all in the area assigned to one of the district inspectors, and to these
premises a share of this officer's attention, though owing to the other claims upon him, not a
very large one, is assigned.
In the other riparian boroughs the inspection of food stuffs receives comparatively little
consideration, though it probably occupies as large a share of attention, in proportion to
the quantity of food received on the several river frontages, and destined to be consumed
in London, as in the case of the authorities which employ special food inspectors.
The above summary applies to food generally, including meat of all kinds, dairy produce, fresh
fruit and vegetables, miscellaneous perishable materials received in the fresh state, and preserved and
tinned goods of all sorts. Meat and fish stand, however, on a footing distinct from other foods, inasmuch
as, in the main, they pass through the City markets after leaving the riverside. Thus the sanitary
staff of the City Health Department includes eight inspectors of slaughter-houses and meat; fresh and
refrigerated meat passing through Smithfield is liable to be examined by the City inspectors, and there
is, moreover, some examination of animals killed at Deptford at the time of slaughter. The position of
affairs as regards fish is altogether exceptional. Almost the entire London supply passes through
Billingsgate or through the purlieus of that market. There is, practically speaking, no inspection of
the fish either at railway stations or in course of transit by land or water up to the time of its arriving
at Billingsgate. The fish trade has its own inspectors appointed by the Fishmongers' Company, and
action in particular instances, more particularly as regards shellfish, has been taken by the health
department of the City Corporation, but no systematic control by a sanitary authority, such as is now
regarded as necessary in the case of other sorts of food, has hitherto been instituted. A considerable
experience of the condition of fish arriving at shops, in the poorer parts of London, acquired by officers
of the London County Council, more particularly during recent years, shows that the inspection carried
out at Billingsgate affords no sufficient security against the consumption of fish unfit for food.
The scheme of allotment of duties of riparian inspection, as regards food, having been outlined,
it is now necessary to discuss the methods of work of the staff of river food inspectors. These
methods were the subject of some discussion by question and answer at the Local Government Board
inquiry in 1903. Some of the important difficulties, upon which more recent experience shows that
emphasis should be laid, were indeed then only lightly touched upon, but it is convenient to proceed
in chronological sequence and to deal first with difficulties already experienced prior to 1903, and then to