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There is in existence a working arrangement whereby any trader may communicate with
the Sanitary Inspector in respect of any article of food of which he has some doubt as to
its fitness for human consumption. The Sanitary Inspector, when requested in this manner,
will inspect the food and will give a decision on it there and then, that which is unfit
being surrendered for destruction by the local authority and a certificate being given
accordingly. This arrangement works exceedingly well and, under it, no trader need have
food on his premises which is unfit or in respect of which there is any doubt. It may
also be said that there is no excuse in these circumstances for a trader who is found to
have food in his possession which is unfit and he must expect to be treated accordingly if
he fails to co-operate with the Department.
It has been found necessary to have surrendered or to seize a huge amount of foodstuffs
but an examination of the list shows that, for the most part, these consisted of
food which was unsound. There has been remarkably little diseased meat or other foods.
On the whole it would appear that defective canning or over-lengthy storage was response
ible for the bulk; nevertheless, some of these foods were in a dangerous condition and
the time and energy expended in this direction has been well worth while. It is a silent
but none the less efficient service, little realised by the public who even today, do not
normally connect sanitary inspection with food inspection.
It is within the knowledge of the Department, that there is a tendency in certain
sections of the trade and, dare one say it, of the Ministry of Food, to regard meat or bacon
which is not quite up to standard or has an unpleasant appearance, as being fit for
manufacturing: in fact I believe it is quite common for it to be said in respect of certain
goods "This will not do for a shop but it will dp for chopping". The result of this is that
the meat or bacon which needs particular care finds its way into sausages, meat pies, minced
goods, meat loaf and brawns etc., where the risk is much greater than it would be if such
meats were merely roasted and consumed. In these circumstances, particular care has been
devoted to food factories of this type during the year.
Reports were received on three occasions of illness caused to persons who had eaten
sausages alleged to have been made at a factory in West Ham and, as the sausages concerned
in each case were certified by the bacteriologist to have suffered bacterial contamination,
it became obvious that something untoward was happening. Some considerable time was devoted
to the factory concerned and eventually it was noticed that some calves which had been
slaughtered in this country but which were very young, were contaminated in parts by stomach
and bowel contents. As such a thing should never happen with the skilled slaughterman,
supplies were stopped immediately and investigations made at the slaughterhouse of origin
which was some two hundred miles away.
It was suggested that such events could only result from attempts to speed beyond
the normal capacity and, in the process, introduce a little carelessness.
This theory was found to be correct. Immediate representations were made to the
Ministry of Food and no further trouble was experienced from this source. It is interesting
to note that the veal from these calves which found its way into the sausages, remained
capable of causing illness despite cooking.
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