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 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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SECTION XVI - MISCELLANEOUS
Arrangements for the burial on shore of persons who have died on board ship from infectious
disease. No change.
The total amount of foodstuffs seized and condemned for human consumption and either reconditioned or disposed of for animal consumption or for industrial purposes under guarantee or destroyed was 3,992 tons 0 cwts 3 qrs 6 lbs. The following is a summary showing the methodof disposal of the foodstuffs seized:—
| Method of Disposal | Tons | Weight cwts. | qrs. | lbs. | Approximate percentage of total weight | Tons | Weight cwts. | (1955) qrs. | lbs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnt | 448 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 11.2 | 65 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| Boiling down | *250 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 6.3 | 84 | 6 | 3 | 24 |
| Buried | 1,137 | 10 | 3 | 23 | 28.5 | 832 | 18 | 0 | 13 |
| Animal feeding | 281 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7.0 | 414 | 14 | 0 | 16 |
| Other Districts | 609 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 15.3 | 144 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| Re-exported | 4 | 11. | 1 | 0 | 0.1 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| Industrial Purposes | 44 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 1.1 | - | 10 | 3 | 4 |
| Reconditioning | **1,034 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 25.9 | 214 | 14 | 0 | 16 |
| Refining | 181 | 16 | 0 | 25 | 4.6 | 1,393 | 17 | 3 | 8 |
| Manufacturing | - | — | - | — | — | 1,869 ("Brown heart"apples) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3,992 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 100.0 | 5,048 | 12 | 0 | 23 |
| *See report on page 3.7. **See report on page 27-ra | |||||||||
Of the 3,992 tons listed in the table above, the principal items condemned for human consumption
consisted of
Burnt
Approximately 181 cartons and cases and 11,900 tins fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, fruit
juices and pulp (burst, blown, leaky, pierced and crushed); 108 hampers, 251 boxes, 159 cases
and 22 bags potatoes (sprouting and decomposed); 319 packages oranges (dock water damaged,
wasting and sweepings); 118 packages vegetables (decomposed); 639 packages fruits (dock
water damaged and decomposed); 184 tons bananas (wasted and decomposed); 77 bags cereals
(wet damaged).
Boiling Down
A quantity of carcase meat and meat offals (iced, stained, diseased, dock water damaged,
decomposed, dirty and moulds); 4,580 carcases mutton and lamb, 1,000 sides pork, 3,758 bags
boneless beef (wet damaged as result of collision); 20 cartons and a quantity of loose collected
butter and lard (dirty and dock water damaged); 107 tims comed beef (crushed and leaky).
Buried
585 tons bananas (wasting and decomposed); 146 cases, 247 cartons and approximately 4,750
tins fruits, juices, pulps, meats, fish and vegetables (burst, blown, crushed and leaky);6,709
boxes and bags potatoes (wasting, mouldy, sprouting and decomposed); 1,554 packages oranges
(dock water damaged, decomposed and sweepings); 476 bags vegetables (dock water damaged
and decomposed); 1,958 packages fruits (dock water damaged and decomposed).
Animal Feeding
86 tons bananas (wasting); 1,880 bags potatoes (wasting); 930 bags flour, wheat germ, rice,
milk powder, cake mixture (wet damaged and dirty); 59 bags cashew kernels (rancid).
Re-exported
44 cases and 124 tins hams (blowing); 40 cartons fish in mayonnaise (excess of preservative);
47 cases tomato juice (excess of tin).
Other districts
Quantity of rejected ships' stores (out of condition—released under supervision of local
M.O.H.); 3,968 bags groundnuts (wet damaged); 547 bags shelled almonds (wet damaged); 3,362
bags potatoes (frost bitten and broken down); 500 cases canned pineapple (blown and leaky);
all released for sorting under the supervision of the local M.O.H.
26