View report page

I have reported in recent Annual Reports that lead in excessive amounts has been found
occasionally in teas principally of Formosan and Indonesian origins, and under the new Regulations
such teas will be liable for treatment as being unfit for human consumption.
During the year 1,303 samples of tea have been examined in the City, of which 26 or 2% were
the subject of adverse reports on account of excessive stalky content, oil taint, or a high proportion
of sand, 16 being on account of lead content, 5 of which showed lead content in excess of
10 p.p.m.
CATERING AND FOOD HYGIENE
Messrs. Thompson and Flynn, the two public health Inspectors who specialise in the hygiene
of catering establishments report to the following effect:—
What of the year 1961, when once again we come to consider and to contemplate the
problem of food hygiene and the catering industry as it is known to us in the City of
London? In some spheres of human activity the degree of success from a given effort may be
spectacular. In contrast, advances and improvements in catering hygiene are sometimes
meagre and often difficult to assess as an advance at all. However, some measure of
achievement is the fact that standards have not deteriorated and that many proprietors do not
now feel that a visit by the representative of the Medical Officer of Health means inevitable
doom.
Few people unconnected with the industry can appreciate the diversity of the troubles
and difficulties with which a caterer may be faced. Many are of his own making but some
spring from sources beyond his immediate control. For instance many caterers wish to
modify and improve their premises without any prompting from an official. They are then
faced with the problem of finding a builder able and willing to carry out the work. Because
of the highly specialised nature of much of this work, few builders are prepared to give
either a firm price or a definite completion date. This is not a condemnation of the builder.
Obviously if he can secure his income from more attractive and less exacting spheres of
building who is to blame him; but it does indicate the very real difficulty with which
caterers are faced whenever they wish to carry out improvements of a structural nature.
Undoubtedly the problems of the caterer are legion, but only after all his difficulties have
been effectively overcome can one expect to receive good, clean wholesome food, attractively
presented, and hygienically prepared and served.
As officers who are constantly endeavouring to achieve the objective of getting clean,
wholesome food on the table of the public restaurant and staff canteen, we are at times
discouraged by the lack of interest displayed by many of the customers who use these
facilities. Often there seems to be an almost eastern fatalism in the way they accept the
fact that they are getting an inferior service. With perhaps a few exceptions, it would appear
that canteen feeding reaches the lowest standards, both as regards the quality of the food
and the efficiency of service. There is the inevitable contradiction of providing a meal as
cheaply as possible on the part of the employer, and that of the staff using the canteen who
literally expect first class materials and service at a cost which they consider economic.
There is disappointment and disillusionment on both sides, and often an embittered relationship
develops between those providing the meals and those wanting to be fed, which leads
to a state of affairs where everything suffers including the standard of hygiene. When the
staff — and they are not machines — feel that their efforts are in vain and that the job does
not seem to matter, they cease to care, often stay away from work, and quite unwittingly
adopt an attitude which leads to even greater confusion and chaos in the kitchen.
A considerable amount of routine work has been carried out, particularly in checking the
state of some of those premises which have been subject to considerable improvement and
modification. The extent and degree of deterioration which has occurred in some instances,
comes as an unpleasant reminder of the necessity of constant vigilence if a satisfactory
standard of cleanliness and hygiene is to be maintained. The general accummulation of dirt
and the other adverse conditions observed are invariably associated with a tale of woe regarding
the poor quality of staff and the general shortage of workers.
During the year we have again received complaints concerning the storage of kitchen
waste in containers which are dilapidated and objectionable, and which are placed in
positions for collection which are offensive to the public in general. It would seem that the
time is fast approaching when the attempt to store kitchen waste for animal feeding should
be abandoned. Unless there is a daily collection, a consistent and conscientious cleaning
of the bins, together with a proper replacement procedure when the bins begin to show signs
of deterioration, the existing normal arrangements must inevitably cause a public health
nuisance.
18