[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wembley].

  • Wembley (London, England). Municipal Borough.
Date:
[1948]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wembley]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    65/86 (page 63)
    etc.) Regulations, 1947, practically all possibility of control in the cleanly handling and distribution of ice cream from a barrow or cart disappeared on the ice cream being deposited into the barrow or cart; for example, control of the cleanliness and good health of the person selling ice cream on the street from the barrow, the barrow being surrounded by children and other mem bers of the public, possible and real buyers. To eliminate dangers from such absence of control it was considered that ice cream from a barrow or cart on the street should be sold wrapped, and representation was accordingly made to the Minister enquiring if the Council could deal witn the position by byelaw. The Minister, however, informed the Council that such a matter would appear to fall for consideration under his regulation-making powers in Section 8 (1) of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, and could not appropriately be dealt with under byelaws. Now (from 1st May,1947) the Ice Cream (Heat Treatment, etc.) Regulations, 1947, are in force and a pamphlet has been distributed to all persons registered, pointing out duties and obligations with regard to premises and their cleanliness, the cleanliness of utensils, cleanliness of persons engaged in its pre paration, storage and sale, reporting the occurrence of milk-borne diseases, the avoidance of delay in a mix being frozen. In view of the possibility of ice cream becoming infected with various disease germs and so acting as a vehicle in the spread of some dangerous illnesses, such points as these require constant care and the strictest vigilance. Failure in any one of these essentials may be the beginning of the train of circumstances leading to disastrous results, for example, the spread of typhoid fever, dysentery and similar diseases. Additional precautions are recommended such as that any person suffering from diarrhœa, realising the danger of spread, should Obtain medical advice before resuming employment in connection with ice cream, as also should any person suffering from whitlow or such like septic skin condi tions. A blood test is available which may assist to detect any chronic typhoid or enteric carrier condition and proprietors of ice cream premises are informed as a routine that arrangements will be made for this test on application to the Public Health Department. This test is carried out at the Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale. Constant attention was given to the cleanliness of milk under the Special Designations Orders. With recent developments in the industry the larger firms are supplying a still greater number of the public. In the report for the year 1936 it was remarked that 92.6% of the milk delivered in Wembley was either tuberculin tested, pasteurised or sterilised, the percentage of the milk 63