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Sanitary Circumstances of the District. 27
It would perhaps at this stage be appropriate for comment on
the absence, in any Public Health Statute, of power to deal with
the suitability of premises for the purpose of preparing food for
human consumption, with the exception of bakehouses.
Without any doubt whatever, no premises should be used for
the preparation of human food intended for sale unless the Sanitary
Authority is first satisfied of their suitability for the purpose, such
suitability or otherwise would be determined by the spaciousness,
lighting, ventilation, condition of the drainage, etc., cooking room
the proper storage of offal pending removal, and the provisions for
storage or protection of food unsold.
If a Local Authority possessed powers, or some of them outlined
above, a great deal of the Inspector's time, taken up in endeavouring
to secure a mitigation of the evils, could be better spent in other
work.
SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACTS.
The administration of this Act is carried out by the Surrey
County Council.
The report of the Inspector who deals with this district, among
others, appears on following page.
One is compelled, when making comparisons with the work of
the adjoining Metropolitan Districts, to make observations on the
results of working the same Act. As this district is, although
Urban in name, essentially Metropolitan in character, it seems
desirable, in order to effectually protect the public against adulteration,
that the same methods should obtain here, viz., the officers
of the Local Authority should be able to procure samples for
analysis by the public analyst. Knowing the district as they do and
the itinerant dealers who frequent it, the officers are in a more
favourable position to obtain adulterated samples.