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and comparatively slow cookings This was advocated as the result of experiments
conducted and reported upon during 1950.
Cockles so cooked are of a good firm texture. They present a far
better appearance than formerly and they stand up well to brining.
Each establishment has a steam hose which is used regularly to sterilize
all equipment. All wooden apparatus has been eliminated.
The 'Cockle Sheds' at Leigh-on-Sea have been in their present site for
many years. There is at present no alternative site but the area leaves
much to be desired. The whole water-front at Leigh is the subject of a
Foreshore Improvement Scheme by the Southend-on-Sea County Borough Council, but
with the present financial situation it is impossible to forecast when the
scheme may be put into operation.
There is, however, a prospect that by the removal of certain Establishments
which are no longer active, space may become available for the expansion of the
remainder on the present site. One such expansion is already taking place.
The proprietor of this Establishment has purchased the building adjacent to his
own and has rearranged his apparatus so that in one building he conducts the
cooking, "washing and marketing of his shellfish while in the adjacent building
he has his store room, boiler and fuel. The Port Health Authority and the
Public Health Department of Southend have co-operated to produce a plan for this
so that the apparatus has been re-grouped to give the best possible arrangement
from the hygienic as well as the commercial stand-point.
The responsibility of the Port Health Authority is governed by the Public
Health (Shellfish) Regulations, 1934. Thus the Port Health Authority is
responsible for the delineation of the ''Prescribed Area" from which shellfish
may only be taken for sale for human consumption and only if they are dealt
with in the manner prescribed in the Port Health Authority's Order made under
the Regulations, and they are also responsible that the shellfish are cleansed
and sterilized in accordance with the Order.
In the case of cockles they must be "subjected to a process of sterilization
by steam under pressure for at least six minutes in an apparatus which is for the
time being approved by the said Port Health Authority."
It is the responsibility of the Borough of Southend as the Pood and Drugs
Authority to ensure that the shellfish are marketed in a clean and hygienic manner.
In practice the Inspectors of the two Authorities co-operate at the
Cockle Establishments in the closest possible manner and constitute themselves
'advisers in hygiene' to the Industry. They have gained the confidence of the
Industry to a marked degree and from this has arisen a notable improvement in
the hygiene of all processes.
Systematic sampling has been carried out throughout the year by the Borough
of Southend and the bacteriological examinations have been carried out at the
Public Health Laboratories at Southends, Results have been forwarded regularly
to the Port Health Authority. Special acknowledgement is made of the
co-operation in this matter which has been afforded by Dr.Logan, Medical Officer
of Health for Southend and Dr.Pilsworth, the Director of the Public Health
Laboratories at Southend.
During the year the condition of the cockles has not given cause for any
anxiety but it is notable that the bacterial condition deteriorated this year in
the early summer with the advent of warmer weather in a manner very similar to that
noted in the previous year. There appears to be a connection between the curve of
bacterial content and the curve of tap water temperature. Tap water is used for
washing the cockles and in mid-summer its temperature ms observed to be as high as
68°F. Investigation of this problem will be continued.
On the question of food poisoning from cockles it is possible to give some
reassurance. With a satisfactory cooking process the danger from cockles, including
those derived from a "prescribed area", does not lie so much in the risk of the
contraction of typhoid fever or any other specific organism harmful to humans so
much as in the very rapid growth of organisms only mildly harmful in themselves, to a
point where the consumer receives a massive dose of such organisms and their toxic
products sufficient to cause gastro-intestinal disturbance. Most cases of food
poisoning, especially with cockles, are of this kind and seldom produce symptoms
more alarming than diarrhoea and perhaps vomiting, though these can be severe and
most unpleasant.
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