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importance of safe food by newspaper advertisements, personal letters from the
Chairman to food traders, by advertisements on cinema screens, and by lectures
given by the Chief Sanitary Inspector, and myself, to various organisations.
The support given by the local press, whose staff regularly attend and report
the meetings of the Guild, has really been invaluable.
There are now 68 registered members in the Guild; steady progress has
continued, new applications coming in from traders every month. Those whose
standards comply reasonably well with the codes of practice of the Guild are
registered on the recommendation of the chief inspector. In several cases,
applicants for membership have incurred little or no expense other than the
small membership enrolment fee. In others, the determination of the traders
to carry out the maximum work needed to reflect the Guild standard in their
premises has involved voluntary expenditure up to as much as £500. The
standard of hygiene in many of these is far above that enforceable by law.
In only one case was it necessary to suspend temporarily a registered member;
this step was taken without loss of goodwill. Subsequently a marked improvement
in the premises concerned enabled the membership to be renewed.
Safe food depends on having a clear understanding of a few principles and
the carrying out of simple procedures based on those principles. The two most
important, and which have been constantly emphasised in our experience with
food poisoning cases, are (1) to keep clean hands, especially after using the
toilet, and (2) to cool rapidly and keep in the refrigerator all meat preparations
intended for consumption some time after cooking. The Health Department
has organised several courses of instruction for food traders and their employees
which have been well attended; we are now arranging courses in the premises
where food handlers work during the daytime, in factory and school canteens,
and for the children in schools.
KEEPING THE BOROUGH CLEAN
I am obliged to Mr. A. S. Knolles, the Borough Surveyor, for the following
report about drainage, sewerage and public cleansing:—
Drainage and Sewerage.
The continued restrictions on capital expenditure imposed by the Government
have prevented the execution of the several main drainage improvements
outstanding in the Borough. The only works which have been possible are the
sewer constructions involved in the new Housing Schemes, mainly at Butts
Farm, Feltham. No serious flooding by storms on the surface-water system
has occurred, but complaints of polluted matter entering the River Thames via
these sewers have been received from the Port of London Authority, and have
been investigated.
Public Cleansing.
Streets. Difficulties have again been experienced in obtaining and
retaining adequate labour for street orderly work. These manual duties are
supplemented now by a mechanical sweeper but, taken as a whole, this service
is still falling short of pre-war standards.
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