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premises left much to be desired while their multiplicity rendered
impossible the post-mortem examination of all the animals killed
and resulted in the ante-mortem examination representing only a
small proportion of that desired, none of the Public Health Acts
or acts of public health significance passed between the years of
1875 and the outbreak of the war permitted much to be achieved
in reducing the number of slaughter-houses (the relevant positions
of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, did not come into force until
after the outbreak of the war). This Order, by which the work
formerly carried out in some 16,000 premises has now been concentrated
in some 500 slaughter-houses succeeds to that extent,
though because those selected for use were taken more because
they fitted in with the rationing scheme of the Ministry of Food
than from public health considerations it is probable that not the
most hygienic will in fact be in use. Perhaps post-war economic
conditions necessitating the economies which would arise from
centralized slaughtering will effect as a public health benefit what
measures promoted on public health grounds have failed to achieve.
Meat Depot.
The Meat Depot at Canterbury Road is used as a distributing
house for Harrow and other districts. As was the case last year
the inspection of the meat here demands practically the whole
time of. one of the inspectors. While not ideal for their purpose
no real exception can be taken to the premises. Both home-killed
and imported meat are received at the depot, the home-killed
mostly in entire carcases, but the imported quartered or the offal
in barrels. Some home-killed meat bore evidence of previous
inspection, but much appears to have missed this. The following
is a statement of the extent to which the meat has had to be condemned:—Carcases
of 144 sheep, of 2 calves, and of 3 pigs on
account of emaciation, dropsy, putrefaction or immaturity; 10
carcases of sheep because of black mould: 1,769 lbs. of beef because
of putrefaction or bruising; 3,655 lbs. of mutton because of putrefaction
or of black mould; 89 lbs. of veal because of putrefaction;
43 lbs. of pork because of tuberculosis. About 38,000 lbs. of offal
were condemned on account of parasitic disease, putrefaction or
pneumonia.
Much of the meat is condemned because of putrefaction. Part
of this arises, probably, from delay in transporting the meat to
the depot; on the other hand, some of the meat could possibly
have been saved if some system of refrigeration were installed at
the depot. While it is appreciated that difficulties arise from war
conditions, the handling and transporting of the meat leaves
much to be desired, some of the carcases on arrival being in a
very dirty condition.
In a Memorandum on the Control of Slaughtering issued by
the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Food it is stated that