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18.
INTRODUCTION
The prime physical requirement for a happy and enjoyable life
is good health. Health education, so long neglected in the past,
is the best method, particularly through the schools, of achieving
this aim. Talks I have given on personal hygiene and environmental
health have been received with avid interest by older children and
have been followed by good and sensible questioning lasting up to
half an hour. This surely shows a need which should be met.
We would be delighted to receive many more requests for talks at
schools than we get at present.
The pupils showed the greatest interest towards food and here,
education would play a great part towards our protection, both
domestically and in food businesses. In the latter, for all our
laws and their enforcement, the best cannot be achieved until people
so engaged understand the reasons for hygiene and good housekeeping.
The same applies in the home but here we can have no statutory powers
and all is dependent upon understanding.
During the year the food hygiene drive was continued and in my
opinion the general standard in this Borough is now above the average
in the country. Much however remains to be done as will be seen
from the bacteriological examinations of meat products (page 3l)
Only two out of eight routine food samples, taken from the shop counter,
were satisfactory. These foods were contaminated through bad handling
and had deteriorated because of bad storage. The Council was very
much concerned and instructed me to take such action as was necessary
to improve matters. This is being done. It is a long and difficult
task, but one that is welcomed by the staff.
The ancient methods of adulteration of food have decreased as
detection has improved. However, we are now faced with new potential
dangers such as the increasing use of artificial colouring and chemical
additives in our processed foods, and the relatively uncontrolled
spraying of growing crops with poisonous insecticides. These hazards
will be an important feature of our future investigations and research.
Detection can be difficult and costly. An ever greater
difficulty appears to be in getting the Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food to do anything about these hazards when they are
found. A case in point was nicotinic acid (reported under 'Food
Complaints' on page 29). This was being used by butchers solely for the
purpose of keeping the appearance of their meat bright and fresh despite
its age and condition. The public were thus not only being misled,
they also stood a considerable risk of suffering very unpleasant
symptoms.