London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Shoreditch 1926
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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32
w.c. was required, in one eaves guttering was defective, and in one there was a blocked
drain. The necessary sanitary notices were served and duly complied with. The
bakehouses at 32, Clifton Street, 271, Hoxton Street, 164 Kingsland Road, and 76,
Pitfield Street, were not in use as bakehouses when visited. Altogether, therefore,
at the close of the year there were 61 bakehouses on the register, of which 36 are
underground. In 28 power is used in connection with the work of bread making.
SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACTS.
The reports of the Public Analyst, Mr. H. G. Harrison, M.A., show that 1,058
samples were submitted to him during the year. This number is at the rate of 9-9
per 1,000 inhabitants, and is above the average for recent years.
The results of the year's work are summarised in the following Table:—
| Quarter of 1926. | Number of Samples taken. | Number of Samples. ! Adulterated. | Percentage Adulterated. | Number of Prosecutions Instituted. | Prosecutions withdrawn because of Warranties, &c. | Prosecutions Proceeded with | Number of Successful Prosecutions. | Fines and Costs. | Amount paid to Analyst for Samples Analysed. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s. | d | s. | d. | ||||||||||
| 1st | 249 | 4 | 1.6% | 2 | – | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 155 | 12 | 6 |
| 2nd | 217 | 10 | 4.6% | 1 | – | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | 0 | 135 | 12 | 6 |
| 3rd | 223 | 6 | 2.7% | – | – | – | – | 139 | 7 | 6 | |||
| 4 th | 369 | 7 | 1.9% | – | – | – | – | 230 | 12 | 6 | |||
| Totals for Year. | 1,058 | 27 | 2.5% | 3 | – | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 661 | 5 | 0 |
The samples taken included 513 of milk, 69 butter, 59 vinegar, 53 cocoa, 46
margarine, 39 pepper, 25 tea, 16 baking powder, 16 dripping, 16 non-alcoholic wine,
13 coffee, 13 lard, 12 jam, 10 rice, 9 ground almonds, 9 custard powder, 9 tapioca,
9 malt vinegar, 8 cheese, 8 mustard, 8 sago, 6 arrowroot, 6 sausage, 5 self-raising
flour, 5 ginger, 5 ice cream, 5 ground rice, 4 camphorated oil, 4 olive oil, 4 beef sausage,
3 black pudding, 3 ground ginger, 3 beef suet, 3 mixed spice, 2 barley, 2 pearl barley,
2 pressed beef, 2 brawn, 2 chocolate sweetmeats, 2 coffee and chicory, 2 faggots,
2 glycerin, 2 compound liquorice powder, 2 mustard compound, 2 ammoniated
tincture of quinine, 2 breakfast sausage, 2 saveloy, 2 semolina, 2 sugar, 1 each of
apples (informal), friar's balsam, corned beef, chocolate (informal), desiccated cocoanut,
ground cinnamon, lemon squash, meat pie, mince meat, salmon paste, tartaric acid
and spirits of camphor.
Of the samples of milk seven, or 1.3 per cent., were found to be below the standard
fixed by the Board of Agriculture. The proportion of milk samples returned as
adulterated during 1926 was again greatly below the average.