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(4) A more serious complaint concerning bread was the discovery
by the purchaser of a double edged safety razor blade embedded in a
loaf. The circumstances as to how this got there were very thoroughly
investigated and it was in fact established that the blade was one used
in the bakery in making loaves. It had been missed and, although
search was made, it was not found and the conclusion was reached
that it had been swept up. What undoubtedly happened was that it
had fallen from a shelf into a baking tin and later was discovered in the
customer's loaf. The manager of the bakery was asked to attend before
the Public Health Committee when a strong verbal warning was given,
followed later in writing. Immediate steps were taken by the firm to
avoid a repetition.
(5) A somewhat similar occurrence was demonstrated in the case
of a cake which contained a bent metal can opener. How this actually
got into the cake was never established as no can openers of this type
were used in the bakery. The manager of this bakery was also interviewed
by the Public Health Committee and a warning was given.
Several other specimens were brought to my office. In one or two
the complaints proved groundless and in others, investigations proved the
troubles to be of minor character. It is not an infrequent occurrence
that an article of food, generally meat, is brought to me several days
after purchase (having been cooked in the meantime) with the complaint
that it smells and is not fit to eat. Although, in some cases,
replacement has been obtained from the shopkeeper by tactful persuasion
it is not possible for me, in these circumstances, to arrive at a
conclusion that the article was not, in fact, of sound quality at the time
of purchase.
There is no doubt that complaints of foreign matter found in foodstuffs
have increased during the past few years but when compared,
however, with the vast quantities of each individual commodity sold, it
will be realised that these constitute an infinitesimal proportion. One
has only to calculate in the case of bread alone that if each household
in this district receives only one loaf every other day during the year this
represents more than 2| million loaves per annum. Whilst I realise
that not all cases of contamination come to the knowledge of the Public
Health Department, this simple fact should be sufficient to reassure
anyone who might think that there is cause for any alarm.
ICE CREAM.
In my last report I gave a fairly full statement regarding the
operation of the Ice Cream (Heat Treatment) etc. Regulations
which came into force on the 1st May, 1947.
Regulation 3 (b) (iv) which prescribes that certain thermometers
shall be used for indicating and recording the temperature
to or at which the ice cream is raised, kept or reduced had
not been put into force by the Minister of Health by the end
of the year.
Eighty-four samples were submitted for testing by the
methylene blue method and of these fifty-five reached Grades I
and II standards. Twenty-two were placed in Grade III and
seven in Grade IV. Faecal coli were present in only two of the
samples examined.