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the province of the district public health inspectorate as part of their duties to
ensure that the requirements of the many Acts, Orders and Regulations relating to such
premises are complied with.
An example of new legislation which came into force during the year, and which
affects certain business premises, is the Factories Act, 1961, which is a consolidating
Act, bringing previous Factories Acts from 1937 to 1959 under one cover. The Act, containing
185 sections, is made up of fourteen parts, and is administered by the public health
inspectorate of the district councils and the factory inspectorate employed by the
Ministry of Labour. I am pleased to report that at Leyton, excellent co-operation
exists between the two departments and close liaison is kept on matters of mutual
interest.
1,717 inspections of business premises were made during the year, 77 notices were
served, and 72 new registrations and/or licences were dealt with.
Attention is drawn to the statistical section, which gives detailed information
as to the Acts, Orders and Regulations involved and the action taken.
FOOD PREMISES - INSPECTION
882 inspections were made during the year of food premises of all kinds to ensure
that a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene is maintained.
As usual, particular attention was given to the itinerant food vendors who
regularly visit Leyton for the Easter, Whitsun and August fairs at the Council's
pleasure ground at Lea Bridge Road. Visits were also made to the Cricket Festival held
at the Sports Ground, High Road, Leyton, and to the Borough of Leyton Show. As a result
of routine inspections, 80 notices were served during the year in connection with the
contraventions of the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations. The number of new registrations
and/or licences dealt with during the year was 68.
An important new trend in the sale of ice-cream became apparent during the year,
i.e. the return of soft ice-cream made in specially designed machines, which rapidly
convert the ice-cream mix into a frozen, saleable product. It has been on sale for
several years, but recently these machines have been installed in vehicles and, due to
its increasing popularity with the general public, the machines are now appearing in
retail shops. It quickly became apparent from requests for registration that the number
of premises at Leyton installing these machines was on the increase, and to date six
have been registered by the Council. If the demand for soft ice-cream continues, the
number of these vendors is certain to increase within the next few years. The disturbing
feature of this increase from the public health viewpoint is that the responsibility
for producing a clean and bacteriologically pure ice-cream, necessitating scrupulous
care, and sterilisation of complicated machinery, no longer rests with the large
manufacturer, with the necessary equipment and personnel at his disposal, but with each
individual machine operator, whether he be a vehicle driver-salesman or grocer. In many
cases, shop-keepers will have had no previous experience of ice-cream manufacture or
of the cleaning and sterilisation of plant used for this purpose. The results of early
bacteriological samples at Leyton quickly showed the need for close supervision, and
detailed instructions were given by the public health inspectorate to machine operators
and cleaning and sterilising operations were carried out under supervision until satisfactory
bacteriological results were obtained. To guarantee an ice-cream which will
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