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probably has little direct effect on the incidence of food poisoning. What
is aimed at, that is a high standard of food hygiene, is desirable in itself
whether or not it helps in reducing illness ; and the campaign of the
education of the consumers and future consumers is well worth while
if it will lead to a reduction in some revolting practices of some of those
who handle food stuffs. At the same time, it is just not known what proportion
of the minor illnesses so many suffer from in the course of their
lives is due to some degree of food poisoning, which poisoning might
be reduced if all handlers of food can be educated to decent aesthetic
standards.
But for the reduction of the more dramatic explosive outbreaks of
food poisoning probably more attention should be concentrated on meat
manufacturers and catering managers, so that the individual factories and
kitchens are designed and adapted to make hygienic handling of food and
the cleansing of the kitchen ware as easy as possible, and those working
there made fully aware of the reasons that certain practices are asked for
and others discouraged. " Processed and made-up meat dishes accounted
for little over half of the food poisoning in which the vehicle of infection
was ascertained Immediate and substantial reductions in the incidence
of food poisoning would occur if processed and made-up dishes were
rendered safe."
Commenting on the Food and Drugs Amendment Bill, the British
Medical Journal says : " The provisions of the Bill can be no more than
the ground work on which to base a campaign for safe and clean food, and
it is to be hoped that local authorities will take their responsibilities more
seriously than many of them have done in the past. But in the long run
the success of the plans to make dirty food a thing of the past will depend
on the public. The ' education ' of food manufacturers and handlers
will be painfully slow if the public remain apathetic about the purity and
cleanliness of the food they buy in shops, kitchens, cafes or restaurants.
How many people complain when they see their butcher digging his hands
into a bowl of mince, or their confectioner using her fingers to pick the
chocolates out of a box ? "
Hygiene in Hospitals Catering Establishments. In June the
Ministry of Health issued a circular to Hospital Boards and Committees
reminding them of the dangers of food poisoning and suggesting that at
each hospital a medical officer should be responsible for advising the
hospital authority and the catering officer on hygiene in the catering
department and for arranging lectures in hygiene to the catering staff;
and attention was also drawn to the need for adequate washing facilities
in and near kitchens. The circular reminded hospital authorities that the
Medical Officer of Health of each borough and district and his staff have
considerable experience of inspecting catering departments, and the
Minister urges Boards and Committees to enlist their help as freely as
possible in order to ensure that inspection of hospital catering hygiene is
fully and effectively carried out.