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The site which incorporates the actual abattoir is being developed with extensions to the existing
pet food plant, and new cold stores and office blocks.
Data of interest is as follows — Total area of land (including buildings) 1.8 acres.
Floor areas in square feet-
Covered lairage — 5358
Slaughterhall — 2146
Hanging space —768
ChiIl-room, cold air store or refrigerated room — 856
Mess rooms, toilets, showers, locker area and offices — 429
Potential number of animals to be killed per week — 300/350 (mainly bovines and horses)
The Company, expect eventually to transfer to the new abattoir the whole of their business from the
present site in central London.
Food sampling for bacteriological examination
The Department continues to submit to the Central Public Health Laboratory samples of food as
sold to the public which are considered most likely to be vehicles of food poisoning organisms.
These include cooked meats, artificial and dairy cream, meat pies (particularly those sold from hot
cabinets) and chicken barbecue.
The relative number of samples of any particular type of food is constantly under review and emphasis
is changed in the light of our own experience and the advice so freely given by Miss Betty Hobbs,
D.Sc., F.R.C.Path., Dip.Bact. the Director of the Food Hygiene Laboratory, and her colleagues at
Colindale. The results of the examination are found frequently to be either a pointer to poor
hygiene practices which cannot be observed during routine inspection or strong reinforcements to
persuasion to secure improvements often beyond the standard which can be demanded by the Food
Hygiene Regulations.
Food and Drugs Act
The work of sampling a wide variety of foodstuffs has continued smoothly and in no case was it
necessary to resort to legal proceedings to enforce the provisions of the Act and the numerous
regulations made thereunder. In a number of instances, where minor contraventions have been
found, the manufacturers have not only taken immediate action to rectify the matter but have in
most cases expressed their appreciation of the advice given.
Depending on pressures of other work, the visits to food manufacturing premises by members of
the Section accompanied by the Council's Deputy Public Analyst have continued on the basis of
about one a month.
The visits are welcomed by the manufacturers and samples of raw materials as well as finished
products were freely submitted for analytical examination. In some instances matters of
constituents and/or labelling have been taken up with suppliers of raw materials.
A large number of samples are also submitted to the Council's Public Analyst which arise from
complaints of alleged unsound foodstuff made to the Department by members of the public. These
fall into two main categories, (a) the presence of foreign matter in the foodstuff and (b) the
deterioration of the foodstuff owing to decomposition or attack by parasites.
The opinion of the Public Analyst is particularly valuable in cases where foreign objects, especially
insects, are found in food. In these cases he can often say with certainty whether or not the insect
has gained access to the food before, during or after manufacture.
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