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to heat up and it ensures that the food is served in an appetizing
form. In addition there are the foods which are cooked,
cooled and served cold, such as meat, chicken and ham used in
sandwiches and salads.
"It was on the pre-cooked type of meal intended for reheating
that attention was focussed and bearing in mind that
the numbers of bacteria present would have increased considerably
by the time the meal was consumed (dependent on the time
and temperature factors) the initial results proved rather
alarming.
"In all cases the premises in use complied with the requirements
of the Pood Hygiene Regulations and the only criticism
which could be made was that the space available was rather
limited.
"The standard of cleanliness and personal hygiene at the
catering establishments was very good and the results obtained
from laboratory examination would not have been the cause for
undue concern had the food been destined for immediate consumption.
"The problem facing the Department was to raise the bacterial
standard of the meals produced by reducing the counts to
a sufficiently low level and for this purpose attention was
concentrated on the following points:-
1. Education of the food handlers.
2. Methods of handling and preparation.
3. Methods of storage and transport.
"A programme of Health Education was already in operation
in the District which included talks on the hygiene of food
handling. Talks were given to all persons engaged in aircraft
catering and in this respect we were particularly fortunate in
being able to borrow material from the Central Public Health
Laboratory, Colindale, in the form of illustrated charts and
plates of bacterial colonies and these were used together with
the Department's projector and film strips. This was followed
later on with the showing of various films on the subject.
These talks were well received and the numerous questions asket'
showed that an intelligent interest was taken.
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