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51
Seven of the Positive Sore Throats had sufficient clinical
symptoms to warrant removal to Hospital.
(b) For Ringworm. Positive Negative.
Total Examinations—20 15 5
(c) For Tubercle.
Positive. Negative.
Total Examinations—111 13 98
INSPECTION OF FOOD.
In recent years, probably the two most important events
in connection with food have been the discovery of vitamins, and
the increasing attention which is being paid to cleanliness in the
production and distribution of food.
It is now recognised that all proteins are not of equal nutritive
value ; some, particularly most vegetable proteins, are incomplete,
while most animal proteins are complete in that they contain the
components necessary for growth, repair and replacement. A
number of diseases whose causation was heretofore unknown have
been definitely proved to be caused by lack of vitamins, and of
late considerable evidence has been brought forth to prove that
resistance to disease, particularly infection, may be dependent on
vitamins and the quality of proteins, or both.
The proper selection of foods both in quality and quantity is
not merely an individual problem but a public health question of
great magnitude. The health worker must recognise that the
lay public should possess knowledge between food and disease and
of the relation of food to health.
Just as the newer knowledge of the nutritive principles of food
has made the selection of proper food a matter of public health
concern, so have the newer conceptions of food poisoning added
greater importance to food hygiene Before last year, with the
exception of milk, little attention had been paid to the hygienic
handling of food. Certain regulations had been passed for the
provision of cleanliness in milk shops and dairies, but in respect
of the cleanliness of other food, practically no public control was
exercised. It was known of milk that it provided a suitable medium
for the growth of certain organis ns, and that certain diseases were