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82
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES
To the Medical Officer of Health.
I beg to submit a report for the year ending 31st December,
1952 of the work of the Sanitary Inspectors and other officers
under my supervision.
During the year every opportunity has been taken to
emphasise the importance of cleanliness in the handling of food.
Talks, augmented by films, have been given to some hundreds
of food workers, housewives and schoolchildren on the subject
of food hygiene. One large employer of labour arranges for all
new entrants into the food trades section, to attend such talks
etc. Bye-laws were made during the year in connection with the
hygienic handling, wrapping and delivery of food and a copy,
together with a letter explaining the purpose of the bye-laws,
was sent to the proprietors of all food handling businesses.
Already these bye-laws have proved of value and improvements
are becoming more apparent in the display and handling of foods.
Housing, as usual, has occupied much of the time of the
inspectorate, largely in following up complaints. The Wilford
Road and Forster Road redevelopment scheme is progressing,
new houses having been built on part of the site to house some of
the occupants of the demolished houses.
Sampling of food and drink, including drinking water;
drugs; fertilisers and feeding stuffs; rag flock and other
upholstery fillings and swimming bath waters is constantly taking
place. Some 1,600 such samples were taken during the year, all
with a view to protecting consumer or user from health hazards,
adulteration or misdescription.
A considerable amount of time of the inspectorate is spent
in following up notifications of infectious disease with a view to
preventing the spread of such diseases.
The new Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act has to be
administered by the department and this has given additional
work in the way of observing and sampling streams in the
Borough for evidence of pollution. Any pollution found has to
be traced to its source and stopped and this is not an easy task
with intermittent discharges.