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Food Poisoning
Food poisoning is a notifiable disease under the Food and Drugs Act, 1955, and
as such is described in the paragraph on the Prevalence and Control of Infectious and
Other Diseases.
Markets and Hawkers
There are no markets in the Borough. There are, however, 23 hawkers registered
under Section 11 of the Middlesex County Council Act, 1950, 6 of whom sell fruit
and vegetables from barrows in the streets; the remainder sell greengrocery and other
foodstuffs from door to door. In each case, the premises in which the food is stored
must be approved by the local authority concerned; in 14 cases, the premises being
situated in Finchley, were inspected and found to be satisfactory.
Concern is expressed in many quarters regarding the exposure of food for sale on
barrows and stalls, but so long as open-fronted greengrocers' shops are allowed it is
difficult to protest, but protests can certainly be made concerning inadequate or absent
hand washing facilities on the barrow or stall and if loud enough should provoke the
necessary legislation. In any event it is advisable to wash fruit before consumption.
Slaughterhouses
There is one, privately owned, licensed slaughterhouse in the district and although
equipped and maintained to standards which satisfy the Regulations as to hygiene
and the prevention of cruelty to animals, it is not in use.
To ensure that all animals are humanely slaughtered only skilled operators may
do this work; two persons were licensed as slaughtermen during the year.
New meat inspection Regulations came into force on the 1st October. The main
provisions are (a) meat at slaughterhouses must be inspected, (b) meat must not be
removed from the slaughterhouse until it has been inspected, (c) meat inspected
and passed as fit for human consumption must be marked with an official mark,
(d) local authorities may charge for the inspection, (e) the minimum period of notice
of slaughter is extended from 3 hours to 24 hours. In addition, new standard procedures
for meat inspection are also introduced.
These Regulations introduce a radical change in that meat inspection, previously
undertaken voluntarily and as part of a policy to ensure a fit supply of meat, is now
to be done as a statutory duty and charges may be made for the service. The purpose
of the Regulations is to achieve 100% inspection of all food animals slaughtered for
human consumption. As a point of historical record, this was the practice in Finchley
when slaughterhouses were in use for both local and wholesale market supplies.
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