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The bulk of the ice cream retailed in the District is obtained
by the vendors from manufacturers whose premises are situated
outside the District.
A total of 104 samples of ice cream were examined for
bacterial quality by submission to the methylene blue reduction
test, and placed in the following provisional grades—
Grade I 68
Grade II 22
Grade III 13
Grade IV 1
Grade I and II samples can be considered satisfactory; only
about a fifth of the samples taken from any dealer should be of
Grade III quality, and none of Grade IV. By this standard the
above results can be considered very satisfactory; apparently the
gradual improvement in the bacterial quality of ice cream noted
in recent years is continuing.
MEAT.
The two private slaughterhouses in the District have not been
licensed since 1940. In 1951 two licences were issued under the
Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933, for the purpose of slaughtering
at two Public Institutions in the District.
At the request of the South-West Metropolitan Regional
Hospital Board, post-mortem inspections have been made of all
animals slaughtered at Cane Hill Hospital for consumption by
the inmates, and a similar arrangement appertains in respect of
Netherne Hospital.
The carcases and offals of 25 cattle, 2 calves and 62 pigs were
inspected for evidence of disease, and the carcase and organs of
one cow, together with a small quantity of other offals, were condemned
as unfit for food. No animals were affected with tuberculosis.
Meat delivered to local butchers' shops from the Wholesale
Meat Supply Association Depot situated outside the District was
inspected on frequent occasions.
During the year the Council made representations to the
Ministry of Food in regard to the delivery of meat within the
Urban District, expressing the opinion that the present system of
meat delivery and the type of vehicle used is far from ideal, and
that in their view meat should not be laid on the floors of delivery
vans, but should be properly suspended. In their reply the
Ministry stated that they are very much alive to the problem, but
whilst they cannot promise the introduction of the hanging gear in
vehicles as suggested by the Council, the suggestion will be borne
in mind in the light of the Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee
on Meat Inspection, which deals amongst other things with
the transport and handling of meat.
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