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40
SECT II ON F
(INSPECTION AND SUPERVfiS50N OF FOOD
All the work undertaken by the Health Department in
connection with the inspection of food and drink and the
supervision of food premises has for its object the prevention
of food poisoning .or other illnesses caused by the
ingestion of unsound or diseased food.
The system of meat inspection in the siaughterhouses,
the supervision of the supplies of milk and main water to
the public and the co-operation of traders in notifying
the suspected unsound condition of food in their premises
has reached such a high standard that very little danger
need be expected from these sources.
Almost invariably,, the illness associated with food
today is not due to the food itself but to contamination
of the food at some stage during preparation, with bac
terial or chemical agentsc harmful to man when ingested.
The chief culprit is the bacterial agent,, which can be
detected only by laboratory examination*
Preventing food poisoning essentially depends on preventing
contamination and for this reason the work of the
Inspectors is concerned mainly giving advice to occupiers
of food premises on matters relating to food hygiene
As the absence of strict personal hygiene among food
handlers is considered to be one of the chief causes of
food poisoning,, some attempt was made during the year
(see Section J - Health Education) to effect a further
improvement in this direction.
It will be seen from the next section of the report,,
dealing with Infectious Diseases,, that only three cases
of suspected food poisoning were notified during the year
and in no case were we able to trace the cause positively
to food.
Food and Drugs Act., 1938°
One hundred and eighty samples of food and drugs were
taken for analysis under the above Act eighty-six samples
being formal. A further one hundred and forty-three
samples were taken for bacteriological and pathological
examination and other special tests. Table XI in the Appendix
gives details of these samples submitted for examine
tion.