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CATERING ESTABLISHMENTS
2321 inspections have been made of premises where catering is carried on — restaurants,
cafes, canteens and licensed houses.
This has resulted in the service of 325 Written Notices. In addition verbal representations
have been made regarding infringements of the Food Hygiene Regulations in 147 instances.
Work necessary to comply with notices previously served has become completed in respect of
125 premises.
Before establising a catering business application is made for planning approval and applications
are referred by the City Architect to the Medical Officer of Health with a view to advising
the developers on whether the premises will be suitable from a public health aspect.
Although this is purely an advisory service it is useful to both caterers and the Health Department,
in that future difficulties can be avoided by co-operative effort.
During the year 86 intending caterers obtained the advice of this Department before deciding
to proceed with their ventures, and 255 inspections of premises were made in this connection.
Observations on catering establishments in the City of London
Whilst the procedure outlined above is generally carried out for new developments, some
difficulty has been experienced where planning approval is not required, such as the conversion
of already existing shop properties for catering purposes. In some instances attempts have been
made to use premises which by their very nature are inherently unsuitable and incapable of meeting
even rudimentary hygiene requirements. Where attempts of this nature are discovered in time they
are severely discouraged.
Fortunately, the majority of more responsible proprietors and architects seek prior consultation
with the Public Health Inspectors and this goes a long way to ensuring that new and renovated
premises not only reach minimal requirements but provide units which are hygienic, efficient,
and, as far as possible, advanced in design. It is undoubtedly true to say that within the City of
London there are more well-designed, well-constructed kitchens and efficiently run catering units
than are likely to be found elsewhere concentrated in such a small area.
There are still to be found within the City a number of well-run, top quality restaurants which
not only set a high degree of catering excellence but provide a model of hygienic efficiency,
giving an operation which is at once streamlined, hygienic and fully geared to the needs of the
customer. There are also many smaller family establishments which are well-run and their proprietors,
in spite of present difficulties, still manage to achieve and maintain a commendable
standard. In addition, many staff restaurants are well-managed, hygienic, and provide a very good
service, although they are of necessity restricted to staff members and do not cater for the general
public.
To most unsubsidised City caterers low profitability is a daily fact of life. With steady rises
in costs, wages, rents, rates and taxation, ever-increasing competition and the difficulty of inducing
City workers to pay more for their lunch than the minimum daily luncheon voucher allowance,
there is less margin available for improvements or additions to catering premises. Only the
most efficient of these establishments are capable of providing a service up to the hygiene standards
required, and some proprietors, faced with the need to improve and re-equip, have been
unable to meet the expense and have voluntarily closed their doors. Furthermore, lack of prosperity
in the industry is resulting in some large traditional multiple caterers continuing their
policy of deliberate and gradual withdrawal from the City.
With this background in mind the unfortunate truth is that it has become increasingly more
difficult to ensure that even minimum standards of cleanliness are maintained in some City restaurants.
There is a continuing decrease'in the number of suitable persons available and willing to
work in the catering industry. The "casual" or "kitchen porter" type of job is becoming more
and more difficult to fill, with, consequently, still further falling away in standards of kitchen
hygiene. The accumulated result of neglect, skimped cleaning routines and low hygienic awareness
is all too often evident in some City restaurants, where the build-up of filth reaches such
proportions that it becomes merely "part of the scenery". In these circumstances it is generally
not difficult to persuade caterers to carry out thorough and essential cleaning work once their
attention has been drawn to the unsatisfactory conditions, but it is well-nigh impossible to ensure
that thorough cleaning of both premises and equipment is carried out as an essential routine
measure.
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