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115
Inspection and
Supervision of
Food
This important branch of the Environmental Health Service
is the subject of detailed supervision by the Inspectors, the
Redbridge Borough Council having delegated to the Health
Committee all its powers and duties under the Food and Drugs
Act, 1955 and the Regulations and Orders made thereunder.
202 persons are registered as distributors of milk under the
Milk and Dairies (General) Regulations, 1959 and 24 dairy
premises, not being dairy farms, e.g. premises on which Milk
is actually produced which are subject to control by the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, are also registered.
The number of inspections of dairy premises made during the
year amounted to 47. Furthermore, under the Milk (Special
Designation) Regulations, 1963 and the Milk (Special Designation)
(Amendment) Regulations, 1965, dealers licences
(which currently operate for the five-year period ending
31.12.70) were issued in relation to pre-packed milk as follows:—
Pasteurised 14
Sterilised 11
Ultra Heat Treated 23
At the end of the year the following licences were in
operation:—
Pasteuriser's 1
Steriliser's 1
Pasteurised (dealers) 134
Sterilised (dealers) 123
Untreated (dealers) 33
Ultra Heat Treated (dealers) 27
There were no licences issued by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food in respect of the production of
milk at farms within the Borough. In order to ensure that the
milk supply within the district of the Borough was satisfactory,
regular routine sampling of untreated and heat treated designated
milks was undertaken and in other cases, where
unsatisfactory reports have been received thereon. Biological
testing of untreated milk for tuberculosis is also carried out
and repeat samples taken if positive results had been obtained
after clearance by the Divisional Inspector of the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Milk supplies, including supplies to maintained schools
were regularly sampled during the year. A total of 43 Pasteurised
and 3 Sterilised milk samples were taken. All proved to be
satisfactory apart from 2 Pasteurised samples which failed the
Methylene Blue Reduction Test. In those instances the retailers
were communicated with.