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more rapid bactericidal action, and this is of special importance at times of high bathing load. While
baths' staif do everything to maintain a " safe " standard of bath water, the bathers could assist very
materially by the observance of strict personal hygiene. During the year, five samples of baths water
were taken and all were found to be satisfactory.
Verminous Premises and Articles.— No action had to be taken under Sections 83 and 84 of
the Public Health Act, 1936.
Verminous Persons.— No verminous person was cleansed under the provisions of Section 85
of the Public Health Act, 1936. During the year, 164 children in attendance at schools in the Borough
were found to be verminous and because of the failure of parents to take necessary action, 30 of these
children had to be cleansed by the School Health Department.
Louse infestation is much too prevalent, and is due solely to lack of personal cleanliness. It is
not confined to school children and is found in factory and workplace. Only too often school children,
after being cleansed, become re-infested at home. The problem of the persistently verminous child or
family is a difficult one and is usually not one of uncleanliness alone. It is merely a feature of something
more fundamental and only by finding and removing the real cause of this failure of social adaptation
can there be a chance of lasting improvement.
Pet Animals Act, 1951.— This Act is designed to regulate the sale of pet animals and the
main provision is that no person shall keep a pet shop except under the authority of a licence granted
in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Under the provisions of this Act, five premises in the
Borough have been licensed and 23 visits of inspection were made during the year.
INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD
Milk.— During the year, 106 inspections were made at dairies and retail purveyors' premises.
Under the Milk (Special Designation) Regulations, 39 licences for the sale of " tuberculin tested" milk,
42 for the sale of pasteurised " milk, and 52 for the sale of " sterilised " milk were issued.
The Milk (Special Designations) (Specified Areas) Order, 1951, came into operation on 1st
October, 1951. This Order defined the County of Middlesex as an area in which the use of a special
designation becomes obligatory for the purpose of all sales of milk by retail for human consumption
(other than a catering sale). The special designations permitted are " sterilised " pasteurised " and
" tuberculin tested."
Complaints of milk being supplied in dirty bottles continue to be received. The number is very
small in relation to the large issue to the public. The trade provides machinery and plant which is
adequate to cleanse milk bottles which have not been misused, but more care is needed to see that those
which have not been adequately cleansed are removed on leaving the washing plant. A further contribution
to cleanliness would be to stop the practice of dumping crates of bottles at street corners,
where they are exposed to the elements, insects and dogs.
The consumer can also help by the hygienic care of the bottles. They should never be used for
any other purpose than to hold milk. After use, they should be well rinsed in cold water to remove
any milk residue.
Ihe presence of pieces of glass in milk bottles continues to be reported. This glass is usually
in the form of chips from the rim of the bottle. This chipping is most iikely to occur during the machine
capping of the bottles, but may also happen by rough handling of the bottles during delivery. The
solution of the problem of glass chips and dirty bottles would appear to be the replacement of the glass
bottle by the non-returnable carton.
Ice-Cream.— Under the Food and Drugs Act, premises used for " the sale or the manufacture
for the purpose of sale, of ice-cream, or the storage of ice-cream intended for sale" must be registered.
This does not apply to premises used primarily as a club, hotel, inn or restaurant and only to a theatre,
cinematograph theatre, music hall or concert hall if the ice-cream is manufactured on the premises. The
number of premises registered at the end of the year was 219.
In recent years, the cleanliness of Ice-cream has given rise to anxiety, and though no bacteriological
standard has been laid down, the Ice-Cream (Heat Treatment, etc.) Regulations were brought into
operation with a view to improving the hygienic quality. The Regulations require all ice-cream except
complete cold-mix powders, to be heat treated with a view to killing any pathogenic organisms which may
be present and lay down the temperatures at which mixtures are to be kept before and after heat treatment
—these temperatures are such as to discourage bacterial growth.
I he Regulations also require that ice-cream shall be protected from dirt, dust or other contamination.
1 he enforcement of these Regulations calls for regular and persistent supervision of premises,
plant and methods of manufacture and handling.
During the year, 456 inspections of registered premises were carried out. The following results
were obtained from the bacteriological examination of the following samples :—
Excellent Satisfactory Doubtful Unsatisfactory
Ice Cream 62 26 2 1
Water ices or "lollies" 29 21 1 —
Milk ices — 2 1 —
Rinse water — 1 — —
The percentage of doubtful and unsatisfactory samples was 3.4, as compared with 3.6 in 1953,
31.9 in 1952 and 32.5 in 1951. This improvement seems to be due to the fact that most of the ice-cream
o d in the Borough is now produced by large firms employing chemists and bacteriologists to check
e quality and hygienic condition of their product.
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