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29.
FOOD ADMINISTRATION
Introduction
The appointment of a Food and Drugs Specialist in January of this year
created the opportunity to implement a more uniform procedure in the Food and
Drugs Section of the Department than had hitherto been possible owing to staff
shortage.
The following summary of the year's activities under precise headings
presents the results of the adoption of a system in line with that of the
District Public Health Inspector, but adapted to suit the field of Food and
Drugs.
General
Serious adulteration of foods is now a rare occurrence and when discovered
it is usually found to be an error rather than an intention to defraudo This
change of attitude has undoubtedly been brought about as a result of the
combined effect of the following - the higher standard of manufacture of
foodstuffs; keen competition in business to produce a good article; public
demand for a worthwhile product, and the enforcement of food legislation#
The foregoing is no reason to suppose that the work of the Food and Drugs
Section has been lightened; on the contrary, the increase in the number of
chemicals used in foods has imposed another responsibility upon that Section
of the Health Department whose duty it is to endeavour to see that thes’e new
additions are not used in any other way than is prescribed by legislation.
'Keen competition in business' is sometimes interpreted as justifying
actions which call for an alertness on the part of the Food and Drugs Staff
to detect the reason for differences between Grades I and II, to study price
range in relation to quality, and such methods of trading as could be
regarded as misleading to the consumer.
Some pesticides promote such healthy growth of crops and reduce wastage
that they seem likely to be a permanent feature of agriculture. Unfortunately
some of these pesticides are not only toxic to the pests against which they
are used but may also constitute a danger to man if applied incorrectly.
The number of illnesses which may be transmitted by food is large and
many foods may be the vehicle of these diseases, the most important of which
are meat and meat products, milk products and shellfish. To add to this there
is now the unknown cumulative effects of additives, antibiotics, pesticides
and suppressants. Legislation to safeguard the purchaser has to be administered
and enforced which requires a little different technique than was hitherto
employed.
New Legislation
Of the various and sundry new food legislation issued during the year the
following are worthy of special mention.