[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Blaby R.D.C.

  • Blaby (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Blaby R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Pood may a^so be contaminated by germs from the skinj, nose5, and throat<> Septic spots and boils on the hands and arms contain germs capable of oaas= ing food poisoningo Staff suffering from such skin ailments must not there= fore handle food until the condition has cleared upo Ordinary cuts should be well covered with plaster and if they turn septic then they are a source of danger'o Germs capable of causing illness are also present in some peoples noses and throats and these ar-e expelled some little distance when coughing or sneezingo It is therefore important that raw food like meat pastes, etOog which are eaten without being heated, are at all times kept coveredo Also, covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing vras not just a war^-time precaution even though it was most strongly advocated then? At the end of the year an inspection of food premises was madeo This is not assuming that this is the only time that this is done| indeed noo It is part of your District Sanitary Inspectors everyday work to inspect food premises and this is being doneo Sometimes new faces can effect quicker changes and it is hoped tbat this will be the caseo All canteens, hotels, cafes, and restaurants in the district were visited as well as many food shopso On the whole the general standard is satisfactory and within the lawo This does not necessarily mean that they are all that could be desiredo In every case the requirements were discussed with the manager, or owner, and the suggestions were supported by a letter giving full details of the verbal suggestionso The suggestions were met with general approval, but the big draw-back in a few cases is either lack of space, or lack of money, or sometimes botho Still neither of these should deter us from pressing reasonable demands when, it comes to considering the health of the publiCo An infomal talk was given in each case to the person in charge of the kitchen, and personal hygiene and food hygiene were very strongly stressedo Informative pamphlets were also distributedo As School Medical Officer, the same procedure was adopted in all ‘ school meal canteenSo Generally speaking, the persons talked to had a . sound knowledge of kitchen hygienoo The food shops offered little to I con5)lain abouto In some cases meat paste was exhibited without a cover ] under the noses of the customers, although a suitable cover was not far i awayo Very few of the shop keepers themselves had ever seen a copy of ! the Blaby Rural District Byelaws relating to ’'Sanitary and Cleanly Con- ditions and Practices in connection with the Handling, Wrapping and Delivery of Pood and the Sale of Pood in the Open Air’*, although they loiew something of the sort did existo An extract of the Byelaws was made as well as an extract of the relevant portions of the Pood and Drugs Act, 1938, and this was distributed to all food shopSo This summarizes the law in relationship to food shopso The public can also ■ do a greatt deal to effect a rise in the stand- ard of food handling by being a good deal more critical of the standard of hygiene in the shops and cafeso Afterall, otir health is in their handsS This criticism should encourage the progressive food tender and stir-up those who are not so progressiveo The law lays down a basic or minimum standard and a higher standard will only come from persuasion on the part of the officials, or better still, free criticism on the part of the customerso They should point out anything which is known to be un- hygienic and, just as important, encourage or praise good practiceso
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