[Report 1934] / Medical Officer of Health, Birmingham.

  • Birmingham (England). Council.
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1934] / Medical Officer of Health, Birmingham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    45/168 (page 41)
    V. INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD. FOOD PREMISES. riie supervision of the smaller retail food premises is carried out by the Sanitary Inspectors of the Public Health Department, while the larger wholesale premises are inspected by the Veterinary Department. Reference to the latter group will be found elsewhere in the report. In regard to the smaller premises and food shops, each is reviewed in the light of Section 72 of the Public Health Act, 1925, and particular attention is paid to general cleanliness and to immediate removal of refuse. During 1934 an extensive survey of food premises was continued. The survey related to the general conditions prevailing in the kitchens of such premises, and emphasis was laid on means for maintaining a reasonably low temperature, for the ready storage of food stuffs under cover, and for the efficient sterilising of kitchen and other utensils. At the same time steps were taken to ensure the provision of adequate and suitable accommodation and of facilities for personal ablution for the kitchen staff. ICE CREAM. In the early summer each year a special tour of inspection is made to all known ice cream premises. Under the proposed new local legislation now being considered it is hoped to obtain more supervision and control of these premises, and consequent improvement in general cleanliness amongst the smaller producers of this commodity which shall be comparable with that of the large and up-to-date manufacturers. The conditions of lease of a municipal house happily do not allow ice cream to be retailed from such premises. It is also of benefit to the consumer that each year more ice cream is manufactured by the larger firms and retailed in wrappers by small confectioners. MILK SUPPLY. The area from which the City milk supply is drawn remains approximately the same, although each year less milk is produced within the City boundary. The bulk of the milk supply comes from within 50 miles of Birmingham, but in times of winter shortage, accommodation milk may come from as far afield as Scotland and Ireland. MILK (Special Designations) ORDER 1923. The number of dealers in the City licensed to sell designated milks is shown in the following table. Including the samples taken for the Ministry of Health, 145 samples of graded milk were taken, and the percentage of these found to be below the standard of the Milk (Special Design- ations) Order was 4.1, 5.5 and 12.3 for certified. Grade A (T.T.) and Grade A. milks respectively. Practically all of this milk is produced outside the City area. Numbers of Licences Issued. Producers of Certified Milk 1933 1 1934 1 Dealers in Certified Milk 13 13 Dealers in Grade A. (T.T.) Milk 5U 37 Producers of Grade A. Milk 10 10* Dealers in Grade A. Milk 124 95 Producers of Grade A. Pasteurised Milk ... 2 3** Dealers in Grade A. Pasteurised Milk 7 8 Producers of Pasteurised Milk 20 21 Dealers in Pasteurised Milk 129 113 Supplementary licences— Certified 2 4 Grade A. (T.T.) 2 1 Grade A. 14 14 Pasteurised 6 7 380 327 * As the result of an adverse report upon the herd of one of the producers of Grade A. milk by the City \’eterinary Surgeon, this licence was cancelled in July, 1934. ** One of these businesses changed hands in August, 1934, resulting in the cancellation of one licence and the issue of a new one.