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53
The registrations were cancelled of 29 hawkers who ceased to trade.
The number on the register at the end of the year with storage premises in
Harrow was 31.
The coming into operation during October, 1952, of an Order made
under the Town Police Clauses Act, 1847, was probably the reason
many of the hawkers ceased to trade in the district. Most who now
trade are registered for the retailing of greengrocery and operate on
regular days of the week on established rounds.
There are also 31 traders registered to trade in the district from
storage premises outside.
During the year a number of warnings were given to persons found
contravening the Street Trading Order and two hawkers were summoned.
In both cases fines were imposed.
(D) ADULTERATION OF FOOD
The following information has kindly been provided by the Chief
Officer of the Public Control Department of the Middlesex County
Council:—
"Food and Drugs enforcement is treated as a unified County
problem. So far as milk is concerned, half the samples which are taken
are of new milk delivered to depots in the County and the distribution of
samples in these cases depends upon the situation of the depots and has
no regard to equal dispersion between County districts. The other half
of the samples, however, mainly of bottled milk sold retail but including,
particularly during 1952 and 1953, the procuring of samples of hot milk
from cafes and restaurants throughout the County, are taken in each
district, on the whole, in proportion to its population. Similarly miscellaneous
food samples and drugs samples are, on the whole, taken
throughout the County and co-related in number with the distribution of
the population, variety being equally striven for. One of the most important
factors arising from County control is the elimination of duplicate
sampling of widely distributed goods. This is of great significance
to-day when the vast majority of foodstuffs is pre-packed and distributed
over the whole County or large parts of the County. When a sample
is taken of the County of a particular brand of food an embargo is placed
upon its sampling for a certain period of time in any other part of the
County. Uniformity of policy of enforcement prevails throughout the
County. A particular obnoxious trade practice discovered in any one
part is pursued thereafter in all parts. We have found it economical
and successful to set up small laboratories for simple examinations and
analyses of certain food stuffs and we also found it economical and much
more efficient and expeditious to train our sampling officers as experts in
the examination of various natural products, for example fish, certain
fruits, certain meats, livers and the like. Another quite vital factor is
the accurate and expert techniques in sample taking. These are complicated
and the practices which are used to discover infringements and to
procure different sorts of samples are many and varied."