View report page

Lectures to Food Handlers.
On the 30th January, 1951, a course of eight lectures to local butchers and
restaurant staffs was commenced. There were 45 enrolments for this course, and
the syllabus included Personal Hygiene, the Spread of Infection, Cleanliness of
Premises, Rodent and Pest Control, the Use of Detergents and Sterilants, and a
brief outline of the law relating to food handling. The lectures were illustrated
by sound films, film strips and exhibits, and the recently purchased "Epivisor"
film strip projector and diascope combined was in regular use. A second course
for the staffs of some of the smaller restaurants was then arranged and for this course
the syllabus was condensed and consisted of six lectures. Twenty-two persons
enrolled for this course, which was completed early in the month of March. Both
the courses were held in the Woolwich district, and in order to obtain the cooperation
of employers in the Eltham area a further series of lectures was held
in Eltham, in a hall kindly made available by the London Electricity Board.
Certificates were issued to all food handlers who regularly attended the lectures.
A new approach was then made, by taking the health education unit to one of
the large local factories where a course of lectures was given to the canteen staff,
and the results were most encouraging.
Local Government Exhibition—October, 1951.
A feature of the Health Stand during the Council's Exhibition was the brightly
painted back cloth which portrayed panoramically some of the advances in the
public health during the last fifty years. A sketch of dirty, narrow streets was
followed by an illustration of the first world war and the rebuilding which took
place between the two wars, including the planning and building of Health Centres,
the Council's new Housing Estates and modern schools and playing fields alongside
the new, wide roads. Then followed the second world war, the blitzed homes being
demolished and replaced by temporary dwellings, prefabricated bungalows and the
new Council estates.
Under the title "The Sanitary Inspector Investigates," a model house, constructed
by members of the staff, presented typical dilapidation and disrepair.
The model was surrounded by a number of well-chosen photographs dealing with
housing inspections and bad conditions, together with a description of the principal
defects in the model house on view. Members of the staff had constructed models
of old and reconstructed drainage systems. Old type and modern drainage
appliances were on view. Photographs showed clean and dirty drainage fittings.
Display panels illustrated the dangers to health of contamination of food and
of the smoke nuisance. Specimens illustrating the control of the fly nuisance were
on view on the disinfection and disinfestation stand. Two eighteen-inch paper
transparencies of the bed bug and the cockroach had been mounted by members
of the staff between sheets of glass and placed in front of lights; four display cases
containing various insects loaned by the British Natural History Museum were
displayed and photographs showed the preventive measures against mosquitoes
which are taken in the Abbey Wood marsh area.
A model old-type slaughter house had also been made by a member of the
staff, alongside which was displayed a model bacon factory in which was shown the
many stages and the processes involved in the manufacture of bacon.
Another interesting exhibit was a model ice cream factory unit, complete with
sterilising chamber, pasteuriser and cooler, freezing chamber and block-cutting
machine with table. On this stand the exhibits included a cup ice cream server
and rubber lolly mould.
There was an interesting display of dairy equipment on view. Photographs
and exhibits were lit by strip lighting, the exhibits being mounted on three shelves.
To complete the dairy exhibition there was a model milk pasteurising plant.
26