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The response was however disappointing; an average of 30 (15 from one firm) attended each week
at Harlesden and 10 each week at Willesden Green.
Two stands on food hygiene were displayed in the Social Services Section of the Willesden Show,
one by the Public Health Department and the other by the Clean Food Guild. Many people who attended
the Show showed great interest in them.
Food Poisoning
One small outbreak of food poisoning occurred in 1952, involving two families at a halfway house.
There were 7 notifications but only 5 were confirmed, 2 cases and 3 carriers. The organism was salmonella
typhi-murium, but as the time between the onset of the first case and notification was three weeks it proved
too late to trace the source of infection.
Contaminated Food
There have been fewer samples of contaminated food brought to the notice of the Public Health
Department. During the year 16 samples of food with foreign bodies were reported by the public. A
caution was administered to 4 firms and the borough council prosecuted 3 others with the following results:—
Cigarette end in cake icing Fined £10 Costs £3 3s. 0d.
Wire in jam tart Fined £4 Costs £2 2s. 0d.
Mouse excrement in loaf of bread Fined £30 Costs £9 9s. 0d.
In the remainder there was either insufficient evidence that the firm was actually responsible for the
foreign body, or the presence of the foreign body was not harmful or prejudicial to health.
Unfit and Adulterated Food
It is unfortunate that so much food had to be condemned as unfit for human consumption. Although
the amount destroyed is relatively small it adds to the difficulties caused by food shortages.
Food Unfit for Human Consumption
Meat.
Bacon 311 lbs.
Cooked 182 lbs.
Tinned 4,862 tins
Raw 4,516 lbs.
Fish.
Tinned 1,772 tins
Raw 636 lbs.
Vegetables.
Tinned 6,555 tins
Raw 20 lbs.
Fruit.
Tinned 18,576 tins
Raw 968 lbs.
Bread, flour, cereals, etc 193 lbs.
Preserves 1,085 lbs.
Cheese 71 lbs.
Butter and fats 23 lbs.
Eggs 59
Tinned milk 1,539 tins
Miscellaneous.
Apricots, dried 177 lbs.
Baby food 4 tins
Beans, baked 5 tins
Beans, butter 3 tins
Biscuits 308 lbs.
Cake, fruit 55 lbs.
Candies 216
Cauliflowers 53
Chickens 5 lbs.
Chickens, tinned 4 lbs.
Chocolate 35 lbs.
Chocolates 8¼ lbs.
Chutney 2 jars
Cod, fat 11 lbs.
Cream, ice-blocks 20
Cream, salad 3 tins
Coconut, dessicated ¼ lb.
Coffee 4 tins
Coffee, essence 28 bottles
Confectionery 165 lbs.
Corn on the cob 1 tin
Dog food 3 tins
Figs 18 pkts.
Fruit, dried 57 lbs.
Giblets 5 cases
Ham, tinned 2,723 lbs.
Horseradish 22 bottles
Jam 1 lb.
Miscellaneous (continued).
Jellies 16
Juice, apple 10 bottles
Juice, fruit 107 tins
Malt extract 1 tin
Malted milk 1 jar
Malted milk tablets 30 tins
Meat extract 1 pot
Mincemeat 22 tins
Noodles, egg 33 pkts.
Nougat 312 bars
Nuts 23 lbs.
Olives 1 jar
Paste, fish 5 tins
Paste, meat 13 pots
Paste, tomato 80 lbs.
Pastry, mix 48 pkts.
Peas 4 tins
Pease, pudding 6 tins
Peel, candied 64 lbs.
Peel, candied 36 pkts.
Pickles 1 jar
Poultry 41 lbs.
Powder, baking 22 tins
Powder, custard 54 lbs.
Prunes 722 lbs.
Puddings, tinned 3 tins
Pulp, fruit 30 lbs.
Pulp, tomato 316 tons, 6 cwt. 8 lbs.
Rabbits 480 lbs.
Rice toasties 4 pkts.
Salad, fruit 1 jar
Salad, spread 3 tins
Salad, vegetable 3 tins
Salt 8 lbs.
Sauce 41 bottles
Sauce, mint 15 bottles
Sauce, relish 5 bottles
Sausages 7 lbs.
Sausages, liver 140 lbs.
Sausages, luncheon 120 lbs.
Sausages, pork chipolata 3,320 lbs.
Soups 310 tins
Sponge mixture 40 pkts.
Suet 14 lbs.
Sultanas 13 lbs.
Tea 2 lbs.
Toffee crunch 5 lbs.
Turkeys 61 lbs.
Vermicelli egg 3 pkts.
Xmas pudding 20 tins