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32
From these figures it will be seen that, of the 20 cases, 15 were
females and five were males. The youngest (three years), and the
oldest (64), were notified from hospital; the latter as the result of
post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death.
The average interval between the onset of the symptoms and
the notification was six-and-a-half days. The delay is generally
due to the fact that cases are not notified until a bacterial cause has
been found; and the isolation of the causative organism may take
several days. Such delay accounts in great measure for the
difficulty in tracking down the article of food responsible; for
generally the food has been either all eaten or all destroyed by the
time the case is officially notified.
In the above list of cases notified during 1952 it will be seen that
salmonella was responsible for half of the single cases and half of the
cases in the two outbreaks. Such a high percentage of salmonella
infections emphasises the need for greater attention being given to
personal hygiene, especially to the washing of hands after visits to
the water closet; for it should be realised that food poisoning is
due not so much to unsound food and unsatisfactory methods of
preparation as it is to the disregard of elementary personal hygiene
by those who handle our food, whether they be at home or in catering
establishments.
An analysis of reports received by the Ministry of Health
during 1950 showed that 48 per cent. (i.e., almost half) of all food
outbreaks of discovered cause in England and Wales were due to the
contamination of processed or made-up meat, e.g., meat pies,
sausages, brawn, cold meat, stew, re-heated and made-up dishes,
pressed beef, rissoles, gravy, stock and similar dishes. There is
little danger of food poisoning from meat dishes eaten just after
being cooked, when the food has a much better flavour and is more
palatable. In this connection I quote from a Monthly Bulletin
issued by the Ministry of Health in 1951—
"It is for the catering trade to realise their responsibilities
in this matter and to devise new methods for the preparation
of food in large quantity. Food prepared one or two days
before it is to be eaten, allowed to cool slowly—often in a warm
kitchen—and then re-heated slowly to a moderate temperature
well below 100°C. before it is served, is potentially dangerous
to the consumer. If it is impossible for meals in canteens and
restaurants to be prepared and eaten within a few hours, then