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HYGIENE OF FOOD
Bye-laws
New Bye-laws on the Handling, Wrapping and Delivery of Food on
the lines of the Model Bye-laws of the Ministry of Food, were brought
into operation during 1951, and each food shop, food factory and
catering establishment in the Borough was supplied with a copy.
Catering Establishments
The survey of all catering establishments in the Borough
reported as having commenced in 1950 was completed during the first
part of 1951. The total number of establishments inspected was 292
classified as follows:-
Hotels and Inns 54
Cafes and Restaurants 86
Factory Canteens 76
Clubs 31
Snack Bars 28
School Canteens 15
Hospital Kitchens 2
It was found at these visits that 101 premises had conditions
up to or above statutory standards leaving l8l requiring work to be
done to bring them up to these standards. In 10 cases the
businesses were discontinued. While no premises were of a grossly
unsatisfactory nature, in many the elementary principles of care in
food handling were not fully understood and the inspectors' visits
were used for health education purposes in addition to inspection.
Complete co-operation was obtained from the owners of the
establishments and every facility given for inspection, and in many
cases agreement was obtained to the provision of sanitary equipment
far in excess of the statutory requirements. With the co-operation
of the Education Officer and School Meals Organiser, the County
Council's School Canteens were included in the Survey and any
defects found either in premises or methods of handling food were
discussed and suitable remedial action taken.
It is a source of satisfaction that no statutory enforcement
was needed in any case, and there is no doubt that personal
discussions of problems and possibilities between the visiting
inspector and the establishment owners are much more productive of
improvements than formal service of statutory notices; if owners
were compelled only to conform to these the wording is sufficiently
vague to permit of very small improvements being sufficient to meet
the legal requirements.
A considerable number of the catering establishments were
found to have an initial and fundamental handicap in that the space
allocated to cooking and washing was very limited in relation to
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