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While on the subject of problems associated with retail trade and particularly the products
just mentioned, the price tabs which can be thrust deep into the substance of the food seem to
have a fatal fascination for the retailers. Enquiries made by my staff seem to indicate that little
attention is paid to any method of cleaning and sterilizing this type of label and yet there seems
to be great reluctance to abandon them even when it has been proved that the mould growth in
their produce arises as a direct result of these practices.
Problems associated with Food Hygiene do not arise solely at the consumer stage. The
manner in which commodities are handled in self-service stores, open markets and under street
trading conditions all give rise to their own peculiar difficulties. Such a simple process as stock
rotation and the careless or thoughtless way in which this is approached lead to many complaints
but this is a problem which can be easily resolved.
The specialised markets, wholesale meat, fish, fruit and vegetables have been the subject
of much criticism in recent years. They have evolved from traditional markets of another age; the
buildings and road systems around them are far from ideal in the modern context and the colourful
characters who handle the food, while lending much to the atmosphere of the surroundings,
are sometimes difficult to convince that Food Hygiene is an essential part of their "profession".
These markets, in spite of the general public being under the impression that little or
nothing is being done to improve and adapt them to present Food Hygiene standards, are changing.
The Medical Officer's Department have been asked in the past to comment on suggested
changes; the process is still going on, but in the background there is a desire to retain the
character of these places, and it is at this point that the Medical Officer is confronted with
what might be irreconcilable points of view. It is easy to destroy our past and replace it by a
soulless desert of concrete find glass, but it may be possible to serve the ends of both Food
Hygiene and tradition if we take care.
There is, as you are well aware, an extensive catering trade carried out on a contract
basis for the purposes of banqueting and individual celebrations. This often involves the preparation
of food some distance from the premises in which the "occasion" is being held, with
all the consequent difficulties of transport, pre-cooking, and the ultimate protection of the food
from contamination. The vehicles used for the transport of food for these functions, in many
instances, are far from suitable for this purpose and many of them are very shoddy makeshifts of
some existing design of vehicle.
The food, particularly such items as soups and sauces, are always potentially "witches
brews." Close attention requires to be paid to this type of catering. It seems impracticable,
under present day conditions, to eliminate contract catering but if everyone concerned is made
well aware of the risks involved there need not be undue risks in this direction.
The hygiene of raw foods and those which have been subject to some processing and which
will receive no further treatment create special problems. Many of these problems rest fairly and
squarely on the Agricultural Industry but, as a result of their various activities additional problems
have been created for the Medical Officers. Residues from poisonous sprays, the treatment
of animal diseases by antibiotics, and modern intensive husbandry of farm animals cause anxiety
in many quarters, and while the Medical Officer has the help of his professional colleagues such
as the Public Analyst and the Bacteriologist, he must ultimately bear the responsibility for the
decisions taken with regard to the food in question.
You will appreciate from what has been stated above, and it is inevitable that many problems
have not been raised, that no suggestions or rules of thumb have been put forward as the solution
of these problems. This must be the case because the answers are likely to be different in
varying circumstances and it is this variety that is the challenge to us. It has been said before
and probably worth repeating that Food Hygiene like other Public Health problems is a social
problem. The creation of a climate among the public that many of our social ills are capable of
solution provided they wish for and are prepared to pay for this type of improvement, may be one
of the major problems that the Medical Officer has to face.
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