London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hillingdon 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hillingdon]
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Environmental Health
78
Food Complaints—
| Food | Nature of Complaint | Type of foreign body found | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign matter | Mould | ||
| Fresh meat/poultry | 3 | 5 | Maggots, hair |
| Fruit | 3 | 4 | Argol crystals, beetle, maggots |
| Ice Cream | 1 | — | Glass |
| Jam | 2 | — | Glass, ball-bearing |
| Lemonade | 1 | — | Dirt |
| Meat pies | 4 | 6 | Beetle, glass |
| Milk | 20 | 3 | Stained caps, pupae of fruit fly, dirt, insects, sediment, oil |
| Orange juice | — | 1 | |
| Powdered milk | 4 | — | |
| Sandwiches | 1 | 1 | Dirt |
| Sausages | — | 5 | |
| Soup | 1 | — | Silver paper |
| Sweets | — | 2 | |
| Tonic water | — | 1 | |
| Vegetables | — | 2 | |
| Yoghourt | 2 | — | Wood, sweet papers |
| Other foods | 1 | 2 | |
A further four complaints were received regarding articles incorrectly described and unhygienically
served.
Legal proceedings were instituted in eight cases, resulting in seven convictions under Section 2
of the Food and Drugs Act, 1955 (food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded) and two
under Section 8 (unfit for human consumption). Fines and costs totalling £176 19s. 0d. were imposed.
The cases involved wire in a doughnut, wood in Yoghourt, mouldy pasties, metal in bread, mouldy
cake, mould in milk, and dirty dough in bread. One case involved action taken under both Sections
2 and 8 of the Food and Drugs Act, 1955.
Food Hygiene
An outbreak of Clostridium welchii poisoning, details of which are set out elsewhere in this
report, at premises complying with the structural requirements of the Food Hygiene Regulations,
and which, from outward appearances, were maintained to a satisfactory standard of hygiene,
emphasized the importance of ensuring that food is correctly handled and prepared.
In view of this, it is particularly disappointing that inspections of food premises repeatedly reveal
a neglect of the most elementary principle of hygiene—thorough and regular cleaning. This fault
was common to all classes of food premises ranging from the large food factories to the small
restaurant and food shop. All too frequently when operational difficulties arise, production is maintained
at the expense of hygiene. The effects are cumulative until pressure from the department
produces an improvement. In many cases the unsuitable conditions are blamed upon the type of
staff available with managements failing to appreciate that where this is in fact a problem it is essential
that the employees be adequately supervised to ensure that correct attention and proper priority are
given to cleaning operations. The conditions detected by the Council's Public Health Inspectors should
be plainly apparent to all and insanitary conditions are a grave indictment of both management
and worker. (Plates 4 and 5 contrast new and old premises).