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PREVENTION OF FOOD POISONING IN SCHOOL CANTEENS
(Report by the Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer—1954)
In another scction of this Annual Report (pages 48-51), will be found
a special report on "Hygiene in Catering Establishments "submitted by me
as Medical Officer of Health to the three Committees responsible for catering
establishments—one of which is the Committee for Education. Along with
that report submitted to the Education Authority, in my capacity as School
Medical Officer, the following report under the title " Prevention of Food
Poisoning in School Canteens ".
EXTRACTS FROM MINISTRY OF EDUCATION CIRCULAR
272. (JANUARY, 1954).
The Minister believes that Local Education Authorities and others
concerned will welcome some information on the possible risks and on the
measures which should be taken to avoid them.
Following are some typical examples of outbreaks of food poisoning in
school canteens :
(a) 329 Children and staff were affected in several schools after a meal of
savoury mince. An intestinal organism was the cause ; it is liable to be transmitted
to food by failure of canteen staff to wash their hands after using the
water-closet.
(b) 321 Children in one school became ill after eating custard that contained
staphylococcus aureus. A food handler was found to have this infection in the
skin of his hands. Such outbreaks result almost always from contamination of
food by food handlers who harbour the organism in their nose, throat or ears,
or who have uncovered sores on their hands, arms or face.
(c) 219 Children and staff in four schools became ill following a meal of
minced meat, which was cooked and covered with pastry the day before it was
eaten. The infection was apparently due to heat-resistant strains of cl. welchii,
which has been responsible for several outbreaks of food poisoning in schools.
If foods, especially large joints of meat, containing this heat-resistant organism
are allowed after cooking to cool slowly and are not eaten on the same day,
rapid multiplication of the organism can occur.
(d) 250 Children and staff became ill after eating fruit salad stored in a
zinc bath for 20 hours ; 260 parts of zinc per million were found in the salad.
Although chemical food poisoning is rare, it has to be remembered.
It has also to be rememberd that typhoid and paratyphoid infections,
although strictly not forms of food poisoning, have been spread by school meals.