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68
There are eight wholesale meat depots in the borough, the main
group being situated in The Bittoms, with two in Wood Street and
one in Cambridge Road, The meat handled includes fresh meat from
within the British Isles and imported meat from Europe, South
America and Australasia,
During the year numerous visits were paid to the depots and
142 containers of food, mainly meat, were received in Kingston from
various ports without having been inspected by Port Health
Inspectors. The majority came from Ireland but some from the
continent.
The Date Marking of Food
The Food Standards Committee Report on the Date Marking of
Food was published in July 1972. The Committee recognised the
right of the consumer to be able to purchase food in as fresh a
condition as is technically possible and to know he is doing so.
It concluded that new legislation would be required to increase
the protection of the consumer, to assist the retail trade and to
aid in the enforcement of the law and recommended that a comprehensive
system of open date marking of prepacked foods should be introduced.
Regulations should come into effect in three years time to allow a
period for full discussion of the detailed proposals and the necessary
changes in practices and packaging machinery,, There would be a few
exemptions, such as prepacked fresh fruit and vegetables.,
For the purposes of open date marking, foods would be divided
into two main groups, short-life foods and long-life foods. Shortlife
foods would be those which the manufacturer considered should
be sold within three months, taking into account the time needed by
the purchaser to keep them at home. These foods would be required
to show a "sell by" date conspicuously on the label where it
could be sees, readily by the purchaser and by the retailer. The
marking would show the day, month and year in a prescribed form,
e.g., "sell by 02 SEP 72". The date wold assist in stock rotation
and give reassurance to the consumer about the freshness of foods on
display. Foods subjected to special processes, e.g., vacuum
packing, could be marked with an "open by" date as an alternative to
the "sell by" date.
For long-life foods the Committee recommends a date of manufacture
or of prepacking which could be used for stock rotation
and which would show the age of individual packages. This date,