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Power is also given to take samples, in the case of particular consignments,
for the purpose of special examination, and such consignments may temporarily
be detained, pending completion of the examination of the samples taken.
The Medical Officer of Health may either himself, or by an assistant, seize
and carry away articles of food which, in his opinion, are unsound, unwholesome
or unfit for human consumption, and he may either apply to a Justice
for an Order of Condemnation, or may require that until examined by a
Justice, such articles shall not be removed from the place specified in the
notice, without permission of the Medical Officer of Health.
A Justice, if satisfied that the particular food concerned is unsound, must
condemn the food and order its destruction.
The Local Government Board suggest that an abstract of the records of
articles of food destroyed or disposed of in pursuance of the Regulations,
should be furnished by the Medical Officer of Health in his Annual Report
to the Authority, which should also include an account of proceedings which
have been taken by him, or under his direction.
The Public Health Foreign Meat Regulations, 1908, came into force on the
1st January, 1909. Though not in operation during the year under review,
a summary here will not be out of place.
These Regulations deal with :—
(a) Foreign Boneless Meat.
(b) Tripe, tongues or kidneys, imported in brine, containing
certain chemical preservative.
(c) Severed partsof a pig not prepared before importation, as
bacon or ham, and not contained in a package with a special certificate
attached to it.
This is Foreign Meat of Class I., and its importation into this country is
practically prohibited.
The Foreign Meat of Class II. means the carcass of pigs from which the
head has been removed, or in which the lymphatic glands about the throat
and elsewhere are absent.
Foreign Meat of Class III. consists of severed parts of a pig contained in a
package, with an official certificate attached thereto.
Official certificates have been recognised from the following countries :—
Dominion of Canada.
Dominion of New Zealand.
Denmark.
Netherlands.