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The period during which meat pies should be stored varies from one to three days
and is materially affected by climatic conditions and storage facilities. Pie makers
as a general rule are careful to advise their retalleirs that pies are a perishable
commodity and should be sold within two or three days of delivery, depending on climatic
conditions. In several cases which have been brought to the notice of the Department
the fault has clearly lain with the vendor, for on investigation the arrangements for
the storage and control of the sale have been most careless. In some retail shops
nobody on the staff has been detailed to give special attention to the pies or received
instructions about withdrawing from sale and disposing of pies which have become stale.
On the other hand many shops have an orderly method for dealing with the problem.
Code numbers of the pies are taken and they are examined each day and those which have
been on display for a reasonable length of time are withdrawn in case of doubt. In
others the trays on which they are displayed are marked with the date of delivery and
any pies left after say, two days, are withdrawn from sale and destroyed.
A number of firms enclose their pies in a cellophane wrapper, and while this
method is hygienically sound, there is a danger that the pies may have been wrapped
before they were properly cooled. It is probable that the heat rising from the pie
finds no outlet and condensation, which is set up in such circumstances, is trapped
by the wrapping and conditions suitable for mould formation are created. Many retailers,
almost always against the advice of the makers, store pies in a refrigerator. This is
unsatisfactory, for there is a tendency for the pie crust to absorb moisture from the
atmosphere and more so from the air in the refrigerator and again conditions favourable
to the growth of moulds are set up.
The only safe way of dealing with perishable foods such as meat pies is a prompt
sale and a quick withdrawal from sale of all those which are doubtful.
Sousing.
During the year the slum clearance campaign, which was interrupted by the war, and
delayed in the immediate post war years, owing to the acute shortage of housing accommodation
was renewed. In this Borough cleared land is in such short supply that it was
found necessary to concentrate on unfit houses which border on to open sites and which,
when embodied with the latter in a compulsory purchase scheme will result in a gain of
housing units. Although It was essential to adopt this policy at this stage, it has the
disadvantage that the worst slums in the Borough are not necessarily taken first. It is
hoped that the very bad houses will be dealt with systematically as soon as the situation
allows, meanwhile if a house In this category becomes dangerous or conditions worsen owing
to other reasons, it is dealt with by demolition order and the occupants re-housed.