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10
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD.
Milk. The number of milk premises on the register on the 31st December
was 60, and 93 inspections were made.
Two pasteurisers' licences, 7 dealers' licences and 4 supplementary licences
were issued under the provisions of the Milk (Special Designations) Orders, for the
sale of pasteurised milk, and 14 dealers' and 3 supplementary licences were issued
for the sale of tuberculin tested milk.
Meat Supplies. All slaughterhouses in the Borough remained closed, but
one was used occasionally under licence from the Ministry of Food. The number
of animals slaughtered and inspected at this slaughterhouse during the year was
240.
Premises where Food is Prepared or Offered for Sale. All such premises,
including those registered under the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act,
1936, are kept under frequent observation. The number of inspections carried
out during the year was 2,863. The total weight of food certified as unfit for human
consumption was 10 tons 3 cwts. Very little of this food was destroyed, most of
it being used for animal feeding.
Sophistication of Food. During the year 826 samples were submitted to
the Public Analyst for analysis. Of these, 616 were informal and 210 formal.
Twenty-nine samples were reported as adulterated, only four of which were formal
samples. No legal proceedings were instituted. The food and drugs examined
included :—
Milk, 212; condensed milk, 10; dried milk, 7; butter, 7; margarine, 7:
lard, 7; arrowroot, 8; rice, sago, etc., 28; flour, 17; custard powder, pudding
powder, etc., 29; baking powder, 9; biscuits, 4; dried egg and egg substitute,
23; fruit juice and fruit juice substitute, 12; dried fruit, 30; dried vegetables,
23; canned fruit and vegetables, 25; soup powder, 11; canned soup, 24;
sausage, 24; cooked meats, 7; meat pie, 8; canned meat, 12; meat paste, 8;
meat and vegetable extracts, 5; canned fish, 29; fish paste, 14; coffee, 14;
cocoa, 9; preserves, 15; vinegar, pickles, etc., 48; condiments, 22; spices,
curry powder, etc., 25: cordials, mineral waters, etc., 21; confectionery, 10;
alcoholic beverages, 9; medicaments, 33; others, 20.
The adulterated samples were as follows :—
Formal. Lemon substitute, 1; orange substitute, 1; condiment mustard,
1; ginger wine cordial, 1.
Informal. Milk, 1; canned meat stock and vegetable soup, 1: forcemeat,
1; pepper, 1; mustard, 2; mixed spice, 2; non-alcoholic beverages, 7; lemon
substitute, 1; orange substitute, 1; sauce, 1; Glauber's salts, 4; bleach
ointment, 1 ; pudding powder, 2.
Food Poisoning. The number of notifications of food poisoning was 205,
mainly due to an outbreak at Woolwich Institution. Bacteriological examinations
in connection with this outbreak disclosed no evidence of the presence of bacteria
of the food poisoning groups.