[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council.
- Staffordshire (England). County Council
- Date:
- 1955
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![1 here \^■as a notable decrease in rainfall this year as compared with the previous year and in six out of the eight areas recorded for both years there has been a decrease in the amount of solid matter deposited. Excluding the special case of Gauge No. D1330, the highest figure recorded this year for solid deposit is 323.0 tons ])er s(|uare mile as against a figure of 371.2 tons ])er square mile in 1954. The lowest figure recorded, at a station not previously measured, is of 87.0 tons per square mile as compared with last year’s minimum figure of 125.7 tons per square mile. Miscellaneous Samples. Eighty-four samples grouped under this heading may be sub-divided as follows :—• [a) Samples from Local and Other Authorities. Sixty-five samples are included in this group of which 27 consist of foods usually submitted on complaint. Of six Milk Powders received from schools and clinics three contained insignificant amounts of charred milk powder while one sample of a brand of milk powder supplied to a clinic was found to differ slightly from a retail pack of the same brand. Of three samples of Milk only one was abnormal since it contained a trace of blood. A sample of Flavoured Milk consisted of milk containing 3|% of sugar and small amounts of flavouring and colouring. A Flavoured Milk Tablet was made from half-cream and not full-cream milk powder. Ten tablets were barely equivalent to one-third of a pint of such poor quality milk and were of such an unattractive flavour that it is difficult to believe that anyone would willingly con¬ sume ten such tablets. The three samples of Ice Lollies and the single samples of Canned Pineapple, Butter, Bulls-Eyes, Rum, Rum and A niseed, and the two Pickling Liquors were all of satisfactory composi¬ tion. A sample of Bread contained patches of oily dirt and a sample of Cheese was rancid. A sample of Rock was contaminated with sawdust while another Sweetmeat had a covering of grated coconut which was rancid. sample of Orangeade smelt strongly of disinfectant and was found to contain 40 parts per million of phenolic substances while a sample of Vinegar contained a deposit of vegetable debris, moulds and yeasts. Fourteen samples were received from other departments of the Staffordshire County Council and included six samples of Soap from School Health ; four samples of Anti-freeze Fluid from the County 4'ransport Officer ; two Oil-Sump Deposits from another department for identification and two samples from the County Architect’s Depart¬ ment, one of Coal and one of Laundry Fluff. Of the remaining twenty-four samples in this group eight were Water samples. Two of these samples which were submitted by the military authorities at Sudbury Camp were in connection with a com¬ plaint by civilian employees that the tea made in their canteen on Monday morning always had an objectionable taste. Chemical analysis showed that the water was of satisfactory quality. It was known, however, that the camp water supply was a chlorinated river water and it was suggested, as a probable explanation, that if such a water remained in the water pipes and installations of this particular building over the week-end it might develop an objectionable taste owing to the formation](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30132277_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
