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65
Ice Cream. During the year this popular commodity
was sold at 222 premises, but owing to the disappointing
summer the sale was intermittent. 497 inspections were
made. Ice cream vendors or premises do not require to be
registered, and the only specific legislation dealing with the
matter is contained in the London County Council (General
Powers) Act, 1902, which deals with the manufacture, storage,
and sale of this commodity. The position would be
improved if premises used for the manufacture of ice cream
were registered, and if, in addition, power were given to
remove from the register. Detailed legislation is necessary
for the maintenance of utensils and appliances in a clean and
wholesome condition, e.g., provision should be made for the
daily scalding of all apparatus used during the day. The provisions
of the General Powers Act referred to above are not
sufficient because experience has shown that it is very
difficult to enforce general clauses; and bye-laws, to be of
practical advantage must provide for the obligations to be
set out in precise detail. Registration will not render more
easy the detection of the deliberate offender, but the value
of an occasional prosecution for non-registration would be
educational. I do not think that the registration of places
where ice cream is sold is a practical proposition, as ice cream
is frequently sold at open sports grounds and by itinerant
vendors, and the distribution of ice cream by tricycle trolleys
is increasing.
Other Premises. During the year 142 premises, including
restaurants and eating houses, were regularly inspected.
1,251 inspections were made, and it was necessary to serve
53 notices for unsatisfactory conditions, which were usually
due to lack of cleanliness but occasionally to faults in construction
of the premises. The principal difficulty of the
small eating houses is very often the limited facilities available.
The small domestic kitchen is invariably taken into
use for the purposes of the business, and the accommodation
is so limited that there is a permanent muddle. In such
cases, where additional accommodation is impossible, the
inspector tries to encourage the occupiers to adopt a scheme
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