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Samples taken in Beckenham(in 1949) were examined by the
County Pathologist and the Public Analyst, both of whom operate in
Maidstone. Samples taken here can rarely be delivered to Maidstone
within two hours, and are therefore packed in ice and always delivered
within six hours ; but the Maidstone laboratories do not operate at
week-ends and consequently all samples are taken from Monday to
Friday and then only in the early part of the day, in order that they may
be delivered to laboratory on the same afternoon. This scheme
operates very well, so far as our established manufacturers and vendors
are concerned, but it makes no provision for the casual itinerant
vendor who decides suddenly to explore Beckenham territory on a
Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It is not possible to 'sample' those
vendors in accordance with the scheme and we cannot, therefore, reliably
check the bacterial cleanliness of their product. This is an unsatisfactory
feature and in order to comply with Regulations cannot be rectified
unless a laboratory service is made available seven days per week.
It should be mentioned, however, that recently some bacteriologists
are expressing the opinion that samples taken on Saturdays or Sundays
can safely be stored in refrigerators until such time as a laboratory
service is available, without adversely affecting the results of
examination.
Implementing the scheme so far as was reasonably practicable in
1949 we took 89 samples, of which 45 were obtained from Beckenham
manufacturers, and it is satisfactory to note that no pathogenic organisms
were cultivated in any sample.

It will be seen that, in the early stages of sampling, some manufacturers
were producing an unsatisfactory standard, but by frequent
visits and consultation, and the institution of sterile cleansing of
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