London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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56
(2) SHELLFISH.
Public Health (Shellfish) Regulations, 1915, Orders of November, 1916.
The Shellfish laying on the North side of the estuary of the Thames continued
to be the subject of the Order issued by the Port of London Sanitary Authority in
November, 1916,
Until the above Regulations are amended by the Ministry of Health it will not
be possible to modify this Order so as to provide for the sterilization of Mussels by
steam as an alternative to relaying.
No cases of illness were reported during the year as having been traced to the
consumption of shellfish from the layings in the district of the Port of London
Sanitary Authority.
(3) SAMPLES OF FOOD EXAMINED DURING THE YEAR.
(a) B acteriologist—
| Date. 1933. | Sample. | Result of Analysis. | Action taken. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar. 7 | Canned Pilchards | The tins on opening contained no gas The fish were canned with oil and appeared in good condition. | Consignment released. |
| The odour was sweet. | |||
| A. Cultural Experiments. | |||
| The following cultures were made from the solid fish and the fluid of both samples. | |||
| 1. Aerobic depth cultures on ordinary agar from 1/100 grm. of material. | |||
| 2. Aerobic surface plate cultures on litmus lactose agar from 1/100 grm. of material. | |||
| 3. Aerobic glucose broth cultures in decimal dilutions from 1/10 grm. downwards. | |||
| 4. Anaerobic cultures in meat water from 1/10 grm. | |||
| 5. Anaerobic cultures in milk 1/10 grm. No growth was obtained after 1 week's incubation at 37° C. | |||
| B. Feeding Experiments. None carried out. | |||
| Both samples are free from living bacteria. |
Sample No.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 7 Water (6) Micro-organisms on Gelatin— | 1. | Good quality. | ||||||
| 68° F.—3 days | 18 | 110 | 20 | 30 | 32 | 234 | 2. | Medium quality— passable. |
| Micro-organisms on Agar— 98° F.—2 days | 18 | 178 | 10 | 32 | 10 | 12 | ||
| 3. | Good qualitv. | |||||||
| Bacillus Coli | Absent from 35 c.c. | 4. | Good quality . | |||||
| Coliform organisms | 5. | Good quality. | ||||||
| None. | 6. | Fair quality. | ||||||
| Other organisms | No Gelatin Liquifiers. | |||||||
Sample No.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 5 Water (5) Micro-organisms on Gelatin— 68° F.—3 days | 397 | 274 | 293 | 284 | 30 | Samples No. 1, 2, 3 are of poor quality. |
| Micro-organisms on Agar— 98° F.—1 day | 28 | 70 | 25 | 37 | 3 | Samples No. 4 and 5 are of good quality. |
| Absent from 100 c.c. | (2 days) Absent from 80 c.c. | |||||
| Bacillus Coli | ||||||
| Present in every c.c. | Present in 10 c.c. not in 1 c.c. | Present in 10 c.c. not in 1 c.c. | None. | None. | ||
| Coliform organisms | ||||||
| Other organisms | Bacillus | Welchii | Absent | B. Welchii absent from80c.c. | ||
| from 50 c.c. | ||||||