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10
The question of Meat Inspection cannot be considered as satisfactorily solved until
some definite pronouncement binding uniformly with the force of law upon all
authorities is made by the Government.
At present each authority interprets the recommendations of the Royal Commission
according to its own ideas, the result being chaotic confusion. Science is never at a
standstill, and the Royal Commission's advice as to pigs is now 15 years old, and no longer
in accordance with the views held by the most advanced authorities in other countries.
In no other country is the entire carcase of a pig destroyed on account of a speck
of tubercle in one particular gland. This, however, is the course recommended by the
Commission. Certainly in cases where the animal is inspected at the time of slaughter
(when the evidence of the organs is present, and the Inspector is in a position to give a
definite opinion), the existence of any degree of disease should be an indication of the
necessity for further examination, and in such cases the back bone should be cut down
and the kidneys and other glands throughout the body should be carefully inspected. If
there is no further evidence of disease, it would appear to be perfectly safe to remove
the part infected (usually the head) and to allow the rest of the carcase to be used for food.
The question of the Milk Supply has engaged the attention of your Medical Officer
for some years past.
Samples have been continuously taken of milk entering the City, and submitted to
bacteriological analysis, showing such milk to be infected with live tubercle bacillus in
amounts varying from 4.7 per cent, to 12.5 per cent. This investigation moreover has
shown that the milk supply of the City at any rate is conducted under conditions which
are far from satisfactory, and that there is urgent necessity for the introduction of
legislation which will deal with the evil at its source, viz., the farm. The present
legislation is unsatisfactory and incomplete, inasmuch as it deals only with the
exclusion of an infected milk supply from London only, and allows it to be sold in
other parts of the country.
The Factory and Workshop Act has contributed largely to the work of this
Authority, and this is continuing to develop. It is now under the consideration of the
Legislature to deal with the important question of Underground Workrooms, and the
Corporation has approved of the action being taken in this direction, it being clear that
underground conditions are less favourable to workers than those above ground.
The appointment of Women Inspectors was instituted in 1901, and has proved an
unqualified success. One of these Inspectors is entrusted with the important duty with
regard to Infant Mortality, and Infant Feeding generally.
Other important matters that have been dealt with are :—
The Inspection of Food at the Riverside Wharves, and the appointment of
a Bacteriologist.
The Registration and Control of Ice Cream makers.
The reform of methods adopted in Hairdressers' shops.
The compilation of Bye.laws for the construction of Water.Closets.
Bye.laws for Houses let in Lodgings.
Conveyance of Milk.—Representations have been continuously made to
dairymen and others as to the necessity for the use of churns which will
so far as possible exclude the risk of contamination of dust and dirt in
transit. The principal difficulty in dealing with this subject has been
the erroneous belief that the openings provided for "ventilation"
are essential for the preservation of the milk.