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123
FOOD POISONING.
Section 182 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, requires
any medical practitioner attending on any person, if he suspects or
becomes aware that such person is suffering from food poisoning,
to notify the Medical Officer of Health and to give particulars of
the food poisoning from which such person is suspected to be
suffering.
Thirty-two cases were notified during the year and amongst the
foods suspected as the cause were fish, meat, rhubarb, peas, icecream,
bread, eggs, porik-pies and shellfish.
In the majority of these cases the illness was a digestive disturbance
of a mild and transient nature, the persons affected being
normal again in a few days. The cause of such digestive disturbance
is frequently difficult to determine, unsuitable or unaccustomed
foods as well as incompatible mixtures sometimes cause a train of
symptoms in the early stages similar to food poisoning and it is only
after close investigation of cases that it is possible to decide whether
the illness is due to food poisoning in the true sense of the term or
to one of the causes above mentioned. One of the greatest difficulties
in many of these investigations is the absence of any of the suspected
foods, but in cases where some has been retained, samples are
obtained and sent to the Council's bacteriologist and/or to the
Public Analyst for examination, as are clinical materials where
necessary.
Only in five instances was the suspicion of food poisoning proved
beyond reasonable doubt and these cases occurred in one family.
There were three foods suspected as the cause of the poisoning—
roast beef, fried fish and tinned salmon; none of the fish was available
and the beef was regarded as the peccant food for the following
reasons:—
1. All persons affected ate the meat, four on one day and one
on the following day; in each case the patient was taken ill
from 18 to 24 hours after the meal.
2. Three persons affected did not have tinned salmon.
3. One person affected had no fried fish, also the fish consisted
of different types of fish.