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37
Food Premises.
Food hygiene is increasingly exercising the conscience of
administrators, if not always of the public. Morbidity caused by
food or inadequate precautions in its preparation or serving, is a
problem of considerable magnitude which will respond materially
to consistent routine supervision, educative measures for employers
and employees alike, and last but not least, a higher standard of
acceptance by the consumers.
Food hygiene represents a subject for study by both management
and employees, since the former will not secure any response
from their employees if they themselves are not sufficiently interested,
and the latter will only react to supervision if they are
individually convinced of their own indispensible part in any scheme
for producing and serving safe food.
Apart from what can be done by us to protect the public, a
great deal can be done by the public to protect themselves. They
can be insistent upon adequate standards of cleanliness in places,
which they frequent, bringing an influence to bear upon the position
which is perhaps all the greater because it is unofficial and, therefore,
more unexpected. If the public require a high standard of
service in that section of the cafe, restaurant or shop which they can
see, then there is the more likely to be an attempt to reach a
satisfactory standard in the less obvious parts of the establishment.
If it can be represented truthfully regarding food premises that
the section not accessible to the public maintains as high a standard
as that which is so accessible, then we might not have achieved
perfection but would have achieved a considerable advance.
Two successful prosecutions were brought during the year,
one in respect of a nail and the other of a cigarette end, both in
loaves. We mention this not in any spirit of satisfaction since the
value of our work lies in its advisory aspect whereby, as far as
possible, the conditions giving rise to serious complaint are avoided
rather than punished.
There is far too much indiscrimate handling of food and it is
fortunate that germs are so temperamental in their environmental
likes and dislikes as it is that so much of the food commonly requires
cooking before consumption. It is perhaps a pity that milk, for
example, is so often regarded as a separate problem rather than that
the principles applicable to its production and distribution should
be equally applicable to all kinds of food.
Bakeries.
Many of our bakeries occupy old buildings, ill adaptable or
adapted for satisfactory service. The increased public demand has
aggravated the position although a compensatory feature is that
the resulting prosperity has maintained at a high level the desire
of the bakers to extend and improve their premises.
The existing restrictions do not, however, encourage such
alterations as alone would satisfy both the bakers and ourselves.