London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hillingdon 1971

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hillingdon]

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Other conditions found at food premises included infestations of mice and cockroaches,
blocked drains flooding the kitchen area with foul water, accumulations of filth and debris, and
absence of effective equipment for washing. The larger the premises the more acute the problem
and the criticisms apply equally to the whole of the food trade including the larger undertakings
whose management and systems should be such as to ensure the maintenance of hygienic standards
at all times. Viewed against this background the enforcement of satisfactory conditions in the
1,500 food premises within the Borough is a matter of serious concern. During the year conditions
were found to be particularly bad at a large food factory and but for the fact that the company
concerned took immediate remedial action it would have been necessary to consider the institution
of legal proceedings. The Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1970 came into operation on the
1st March, 1971, replacing the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1960 and 1962 which they
consolidated and amended. Minor changes in the regulations were welcomed, particularly the
requirement regarding the need for persons handling open food to wear clean washable overclothing.
The visual inspection of premises alone is not sufficient to determine whether or not the
hygiene standards are adequate. Faults in storage, stock rotation and other procedures are not
always evident and in this respect, bacteriological assays are extremely useful. These detailed
examinations are carried out by the Central Food Hygiene Laboratory, Colindale, 138 samples
being examined during the year of which 30 were regarded as unsatisfactory and a further 17 as
suspicious. Unsatisfactory or suspicious samples are carefully investigated in an effort to determine
the cause for the failure. Details of the food sampled and the results obtained are set out in the
following table:

Bacteriological Examination

Type of FoodSatisfactorySuspiciousUnsatisfactoryTotal
Brawn112
Shellfish22
Cooked rice11213
Cooked chicken10616
Raw chicken11
Cooked meat (excluding ham)628
Cooked ham94922
Cream cakes325
Fresh minced meat (including sausages)389552
Meat products14418
Chicken products123
Total951730142

A further assessment of hygiene standards is made possible by swabbing food equipment,
food containers, working surfaces, etc. 217 such examinations were made and of these 92 were
unsatisfactory requiring further investigation into cleaning methods and procedures.
Legal Proceedings
Of the 14 prosecutions for hygiene offences referred to earlier, 11 were taken for contraventions
of the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations and 3 for contraventions of the Food Hygiene (Markets,
Stalls and Delivery Vehicles) Regulations, and at the end of 1971 three further summonses were
79