[Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Worksop Borough.

  • Worksop (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1957
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Worksop Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    37/48 (page 35)
    would be very costly and when such work was done the slaughterhouses would still fall far short of the standard proposed in the draft regulations® In consequence the two occupiers concerned are co-operating with other butchers in the area to build a new slaughterhouse for their Joint use® When this is provided the present two slaughterhouses will cease operating. The remaining licensed slaughterhouse is also old, small and defective and will require considerable alteration and improvement to satisfy the requirement of the proposed regulations. The occupier is to bring it up to byelaw standard but is also considering whether to go ahead with the costly alterations required or to close down.0 Nine private slaughterhouses were licensed at the beginning of the year, but one slaughterhouse was voluntarily closed by the owner owing to its defective and unsuitable condition® SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS ACTS, 1933-1954. The number of slaughtermen licensed during the year by the Council to slaughter or stun animals was 36• FOOD HANDLING AND HYGIENE. A steady improvement was noted in the standard of hygiene of food premises during the year® The majority of premises which had not formerly been adequately equipped with washing facilities were brought into line with modern ideas by the provision of wash hand basins and the means of heating adequate hot water by geyser or immersion heater® Many of these improvements entailed a high cost to the persons concerned, entailing as it sometimes did the provision of new drainage or the renewal of corroded water services® In a few oases the expense involved was so high as to make the proposition uneconomical, and in such cases the occupiers were allowed time to either terminate the business or to revert to the sale of packed foods only® There was a marked decline In the practice of displaying open food on counter tops, the shop-keepers co-operating well with the Department by providing glass or plastic covers® Occasional relapses were encountered when it was found that the glass cabinets were stocked with cigarettes and such sundry items as shoelaces, collar studs and hairnets, while the cakes, for which the cabinets had been provided, were displayed openly to attract both customers and flies. In two instances It was felt necessary to institute legal proceedings to prevent the sale of inadequately protected food, the commodity in question being, in each case, unwrapped biscuits® In the first case, taken against a market stall-holder, the Magistrates were satisfied that there had been a risk of eontamination at the time of inspection, and a conviction was obtained® — The second case, taken some time later, against a multiple store, presented the greater difficulty of proving that any likely contamination would be of such a nature as to affect the health of the consumer® This presented technical difficulties which could hardly have been forseen when the Regulations were drafted, and the case against the defendants was dismissed. This decision was in line with that made by the High Court in a similar case