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135
Particulars of the legal proceedings which were taken in
each instance are given at the end of this report.
The carcases of animals which are killed on unlicensed
premises entirely escape official inspection at a time when it
can be most efficiently carried out, namely, when the viscera
can be examined with the carcase. The nature of the premises
where surreptitious slaughtering is carried on is also
invariably, on sanitary grounds, quite unsuitable for the
purpose.
The register of butchers', fishmongers' and fruiterers'
shops and premises where food undergoes some preparation
for sale, has been kept up-to-date, and these places now number
153. This number does not include the bakehouses,
slaughterhouses, and ice cream premises. Inspections have
been made with a view to the detection of diseased or unsound
food and to ensure, as far as possible, that no condition
existed which was likely to endanger the wholesomeness of the
food. The processes of preparing food for sale which usually
come under observation are sausage or pie-making, fish and
bacon curing, fish and potato frying, etc.
In no case has any food purveyor raised any objection
to his premises and goods being inspected, and it gives me
much pleasure to record the fact that several tradesmen have
shown a desire to co-operate with the department by sending
for me when they have been in possession of articles of food
which they considered were in a doubtful condition.
In one instance legal proceedings were taken in respect
to unsound meat which had been sold. The meat consisted
of two loins of pork, and they were brought to my house at
about 11.30 p.m. on a certain Saturday night by the person
who had purchased them from a dealer who brings pork into
the district from the country. The meat was moist, flabby,
and emaciated, and I was of the opinion that it had been
cut from the carcase of an animal which had suffered from