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V. INSPECTION AND SUPERVISE ON OF FOOD
Since June, 1949, when the Mills (Special Designations)
Regulations 1949 came into operation, there has been a steady
improvement in the method of distribution of milk, and in all
shops milk is now sold in closed bottles and cartons prepacked
by the large wholesalers. This has, to a large
extent, removed the probability of contamination and adulteration
in the shops. There has since 1949 been an increase
of approximately 11 per cent in the number of premises where
milk is sold.
Towards the end of the year, the London County Council
Byelaws for the Protection of Food became operative. These
byelaws which contain provisions for the better handling,
wrapping and delivery of food are an advance on previous
legislation and should bring about a general improvement in
the standard of. food hygiene.
At the beginning of the century there were 93, basement
bakehouses in Stepney, only 69 of which were granted certificates
of suitability under the Factory & Workshops Act of
1901. At the. commencement of the operation of the Factories
Act, 1937, there were still 33 basement bakehouses in the
Borough. By 1946 this number had been reduced to .20, partly
by bombing and other disturbances during the war.
In 1949, action, deferred during the war, was taken under
section 54 of the Factories Act 1937 to close 11 of the remaining
basement bakehouses. These were given 3 years notice
to close by May 1952.
Before the and of the year all eleven basement bakehouses
were successfully closed and only nine of the original 93 now
remain.
The closing of basement bakehouses is in the interest
both of the bakehouse staff and the customer, and under the
Act of 1937 all new bakehouses must be at or above ground
floor level.
The Borough Council's authority to operate the Food and
Drugs Act covers also that portion of the Borough which is
within the confines of the Port Health Authority. The duties
include the supervision of the many dock canteens of the Port
of London Authority.
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