View report page

110
ILLNESS FROM EATING CONTAMINATED FOOD.
Two cases of illness occurred during the year in which the eating of
questionable food was suspected of being the cause.
The first was reported on the 10th January, 1908, when a customer, who
had partaken of a meat pie at a licensed house in the City, was shortly after
attacked with illness which necessitated his seeing a medical man.
The unconsumed portion of the pie, which had been retained by the
customer and brought by him to Guildhall, showed green colouration over the
whole of the crust, penetrating to a depth of a quarter of an inch. This was
submitted to your Public Analyst for examination, who reported that it
contained .0053 per cent, of copper. The total amount of sulphate of copper
present was .303 grains. Assuming that the pies were all approximately of the
same weight as determined by weighing others, viz., 5¾ ounces, and that the
copper was distributed uniformly over the undercrust, as was the case with
the sample analysed, this is equivalent to *521 grains of sulphate of copper
per pie, equal to 1.45 grains per pound.
Every facility was rendered by the proprietor of the establishment where
the pie was sold in an endeavour to ascertain how the copper gained access to
it, but without result.
The pies were made on the premises; the sample was one of a number
eaten the same day, and was the only one of which any complaint was made.
The premises were well kept, and a careful investigation, especially with regard
to copper utensils used in cooking, failed to show any reason for the presence
of the copper in the pie. It was noted that the pie submitted for examination
was staler than the one unsold we found on the premises. No other case of
the kind was reported.
On the 21st February, 1908, a customer who had suffered severely after
eating a fish rissole purchased in the City, was referred to me by the City
Police. Samples of the food were submitted to Dr. Klein, who reported that
it followed from his analysis and experiments that the material possessed no
pathogenicity for the guineapig, but had all the bacterial characters of being
polluted with filth. All the microbes found in the material were non-sporing,
and therefore devitalized by a temperature of 70° C and over, and these results
proved that the interior of the material could not have been heated to that
temperature.
Upon enquiry at the establishment where the food in question was prepared
and sold, it was found that the fish employed in making rissoles was of the
best quality, and the arrangements for the preparation and cooking left
nothing to be desired.