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47
only those premises where ice cream is manufactured, stored, or sold
for consumption off the premises that are registered.
Registration in Beckenham is governed by Section 61 of the
Beckenham Urban District Council Act, 1935, which has comparable
powers to the Food and Drugs Act, with certain useful additions.
The sale of unwrapped ice cream in the streets of Beckenham is
receiving the attention of your Officers. For many reasons this is an
undesirable method of sale. There is evidence (obtained outside
Beckenham) that loose ice cream shows a very serious increase in
bacteria counts of samples taken from the same batch at the beginning
and end of the service, and it does seem somewhat futile that so much
regulation should govern manufacture and storage, when the " loose "
sale in the streets, which exposes the commodity to all types of contamination,
is allowed to continue. It is not possible, at the present
time, legally to prohibit the practice in Beckenham, but attention is
drawn to the powers given to a Local Authority to make by-laws
under Section 15 of the Food & Drugs Act, 1938, for securing the
observance of sanitary and cleanly conditions and practices in connection
with the handling, wrapping and delivering of food sold or
intended for sale for human consumption. We are satisfied, so far, with
the conditions of manufacture of loose ice cream, sold in Beckenham,
and that generally the manner of sale is such that the prevalence
of conditions liable to give rise to contamination are minimised,
but it is intended to conduct a fairly large scale investigation into this
matter by frequent sampling, and depending upon the results obtained,
to make definite representations to the Council in the matter.
The Heat Treatment Regulations do nothing other than control
the conditions of preparation, etc. The Ministry of Food, although
pressed by Local Authority and Health Officers' Associations, have
so far not set any standard for the product. Ice Cream, in law,
" includes water ices and any article, under whatever description it is
sold, which is so similar to ice cream as to constitute a substitute
therefore " and, another definition, " Ice Cream includes any similar
commodity." How different from America where " Ice Cream is a
frozen product made from cream and sugar with or without a natural
flavouring and containing not less than 14 per cent. of milk fat " !
During the course of a special investigation carrried out by the
Chief Sanitary Inspector of Blackpool in 1945, it was found that 29
per cent. of samples taken contained less than 1 per cent. of fat, and
50 per cent. less than 2 per cent. the Ministry's present decision is,
of course, based on the regrettable absence of proper ingredients for
allocation to all Manufacturers.
I should again like to express my appreciation to the Medical
Officer of Health who has, by his general direction of the work of
Sanitary Inspectors, offered the greatest encouragement to myself
and my colleagues, who have, in turn, given me every support in my
duties as the Council's Chief Sanitary Inspector.
Roffey Clark, Ltd., High Street, Croydon