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In Stepney, 23 samples of tomato paste and 8 samples of canned
tomatoes examined were found to come below the limit of 50 per cent of
fields positive. All imports of tomato paste are automatically detained
at the wharves for sampling.
Liquid Egg Pasteurisation
The Borough lost its only milk pasteurising establishment during
the year, and gained its first egg pasteurising plant. A firm of egg
merchants, anticipating the coming into operation of the Liquid Egg
(Pasteurisation) Regulations 1963, installed an egg pasteurising plant
in a factory designed and erected for the purpose, where half a million
eggs are being pasteurised daily.
Illustrations of the process are shown opposite pages 42 and 44.
The stainless steel equipment is simple in design and easy to operate,
and does not need dismantling for cleansing purposes. Fifty women are
employed in an air-conditioned, insect-proof room, breaking the eggs one
by one, smelling them and looking for defects such as bloodspots, etc.
Those which are unsatisfactory are rejected, the sound eggs falling into
stainless steel containers. Each container of eggs is checked by a
supervisor before being emptied into the bulk holder serving the pasteuriser.
The liquid egg is then passed through a stainless steel filter
so as to separate membranes, pieces of shell, etc., and after pasteurisation
is conveyed either to tankers, each holding 2,000 gallons, or into
28-1b. tins. Any surplus is fed into a large sealed stainless steel
holding tank.
Desiccated Coconut
Considerable quantities of desiccated coconut arrive at wharves in
the Borough from Ceylon. In addition to being sampled for food poisoning
organisms, the coconut is examined for condition. During the year,
211 bags and/or cases were detained and of these 41 were destroyed, 94
were released for sorting and reconditioning and. 76 released for oil
extraction.
Bacteriological examination of foodstuffs
Samples submitted for bacteriological examination numbered 1,008.
These comprised 480 samples of desiccatod coconut, 277 imported dried
and frozen egg, egg albumen spray and crystals, 10 baker's albumen
(substitute milk protein), 7 ice cream, 3 ice cream lollies, .1 gravy,
1 apricot jam, 1 milk pudding, 30 tuberculin tested (pasteurised) milk,
10 pasteurised milk, 10 sterilised milk, 1 sultanas, and 177 swabs taken
from poultry premises.
25 of the egg samples were found to contain various salmonella
organisms and the packages were detained under the Public Health (Imported)
Food Regulations for re-export. Three samples of desiccated coconut
contained salmonellae, the consignments being released for heat treatment
wider supervision.
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