[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough].

  • Greenwich (London, England). Metropolitan Borough.
Date:
[1962?]
Catalogue details

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

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

    125/176 (page 119)
    119 Summaries of samples taken from L.C.C. Schools and Nurseries for chemical and bacteriological examination continued to be furnished regularly to that authority. Preserved Food and Ice Cream Premises.—In accordance with the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act, 1955, Section 16, all premises with the exception of schools, clubs, hotels or restaurants used :— (a) for the sale, or manufacture for the purpose of sale, of ice cream, or storage of ice cream intended for sale ; or (b) for the preparation or manufacture of sausages or potted, pressed, pickled or preserved food intended for sale ; are required to be registered by the owner or occupier with the Local Authority. Preserved Food Premises (meat, fish, etc.).—The total number of premises on the register at 31st December, was 90. One hundred and twenty four visits of inspection were made to Preserved Food premises and Fried Fish shops as a result of which 3 improvements were made and several sanitary defects remedied. Ice Cream Premises.—By the end of the year the total number of registered Ice Cream premises stood at 232. Visits to these premises were made on 148 occasions and 3 improvements effected. Manufacture and Sale of Ice Cream.—As the public's appreciation of the food value of ice cream increases, so consumption rises but, as yet, no legal bacteriological standard exists. From time to time representations have been made to the Minister of Health with a view to the adoption of a bacteriological standard of cleanliness but he has made it known that he is satisfied that no existing test is precise or selective enough to justify its adoption as a statutory measure. In his opinion the methylene blue reductase test affords a simple and valuable rule of thumb method for the measurement of the bacterial cleanliness of ice cream indicating the necessity or otherwise of further investiga tion into methods of production. However, in order to minimise the risk of contamination and the spread of infection, the policy in Greenwich has been to encourage the sale of wrapped or carton ice cream in preference to the manufacture and sale of it loose. The Ice Cream (Heat Treatment, etc.) Regulations, 1959.—In consolidating and amending the previous Regulations 1947 to 1952,