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tions made at the same bakery though in one case the foodstuffs had
been purchased at a branch bakery at another establishment out of the
district. About the same time the illness of another person not resident
in the district seemed to be due to the same organism; as he had many
meals out it is conceivable he contracted his infection from the same
source. The bakery at which the foodstuffs had been made is one of a
very high standard of hygiene at which there is very little handling of
foodstuffs. Suspicion centred on the fillings used in some cakes. The
Colindale Laboratory carried out very full investigations to try to
determine the origin of the infection. The small numbers employed
at the bakery and their very willing co-operation made enquiries easy.
Nevertheless the blood and stools examination proved negative except
in the case of a roundsman from whose stools an organism of food
poisoning was recovered; he possibly had been infected by consuming
foodstuffs prepared in the bakery. The laboratory examinations pointed
to Chinese liquid egg probably being the origin of the organism. Different
samples of this preparation were found to be heavily contaminated with
food poisoning organisms though on no occasion was the paratyphoid
bacillus recovered. This liquid egg preparation is apparently much
favoured by bakers. When used in the manufacture of ingredients that
are exposed to sufficiently high temperatures for a sufficiently long time,
there is probably little risk in the use of this contaminated product. The
position is different though when the preparation enters into the composition
of material which is not at any stage exposed to heat. Another
risk is while the actual ultimate product is heated and so made safe, the
preparation itself might contaminate some of the equipment used in the
bakery which in its turn can infect some other preparation which is not
made safe by heating. Investigations at the bakery pointed to the need
of education of food handlers. Although the bakery was up to date
and conducted at a high standard, it was apparent that the operatives
had not acquired the same insight into the fundamentals of food hygiene
as had their opposite numbers engaged in dairies or in milk pasteurisng
establishments.
It is usual each year to learn of some who have taken holidays abroad
succumbing to typhoid infections. This year a local resident who was
one of a party in a yacht sailing up the Rhine fell ill with typhoid fever
It seemed that a number of the party contracted the infection at a meal
taken at one of the places they stopped at. Information was received
of two other persons from this district who were members of parties
some of whom contracted paratyphoid infection abroad, one in France,
the other in Austria. The local residents escaped.
DYSENTERY
This is an infectious complaint manifested typically by gastrointestinal
symptoms which may follow infection by a variety of organisms
Those which cause such widespread infection in some parts abroad do
not occur in this country except amongst those who contract their
infection overseas. Some of the organisms present in this country can
cause severe attacks; on the other hand, some of them cause so little
disturbance that the infection is attributed merely to a gastro-intestinal