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Food and Drugs Act, 1955
Food Hygiene Regulations, 1955
During the year 1,158 visits were made to food premises under these regulations,
and 189 contraventions were found. As a result of action taken, 43 contraventions
were remedied and the table on page 41 gives details of the work.
Twenty-one complaints were received about unsound food brought from
retailers. Details of the complaints are given below:
1. Dirty milk bottle
2. Glass in milk
3. Gnawed biscuits
4. Toffees containing glass
5. Goats milk—not fresh
6. Potatoes—causing sickness
7. Unsound porage oats
8. Beetle in loaf
9. Mould on cornish pasty
10. Mouldy Cakes
11. Mildew on loaf
12. Dirty bread
13. Staple in loaf
14. Maggot in chocolate
15. Turkey—bad
16. Cigarette portion in loaf
17. Fungoid growth in bottle of
apple juice
18. Cigarette end in packet of chips
19. Glass in milk
20. Dirty milk bottle
21. Rancid icing sugar
Five cases were reported to the Public Health Committee; 3 warning letters
were sent to the offenders and 2 prosecutions were taken.
In the case of a metal staple found in a loaf, a fine of £10 was imposed and
£2 2s. 0d. costs were awarded. In the second case, where a cigarette end was
found between the wrapper and the outside of a loaf a fine of £2 was imposed and
£2 2s. 0d. costs awarded.
Information was received that a firm of wholesalers in the district had received
a consignment of tubes of icing sugar. An analyst's report stated that the icing
sugar contained highly rancid fat; that the article was in such a rancid condition
that it was nauseous to the taste, liable to cause vomiting, and was unfit for human
consumption.
Visits were immediately made to 11 shops in the Borough where the tubes of
icing sugar had been distributed by the wholesalers and any stock remaining was
destroyed. The Chief Public Health Inspectors of 8 neighbouring local authorities
were informed that certain shops in their areas had been supplied with the icing,
and immediate steps were taken in each case to prevent its sale.
Resulting from information supplied from the Minister of Health, a careful
watch was kept on Chinese egg albumen received in the Borough. This product
was potentially dangerous because of the presence of Salmonella organisms—food
poisoning germs. A circular letter was at once sent to the bakery trade pointing
out the precautions to be taken when using the product. Samples were taken
from 2 bakers who were using Chinese egg albumen. Both samples were satisfactory,
but personal contact was made in each case to ensure that all precautions
were being taken.
Petrol Filling Stations
During the year 1956, 420 visits were paid by the public health inspectors to
premises where petroleum or carbide of calcium is stored, and 103 licences were
issued.
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