Report of the Director-General of Public Health, New South Wales.
- New South Wales. Department of Public Health
- Date:
- [1937]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of the Director-General of Public Health, New South Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.
18/154 page 8
![(b) Provision of Millc.—Except in specially favourable spots, it is difficult to maintain a cow in these out-back areas. And yet it is essential that an adequate supply of milk should be available if the children are to be satisfactorily nourished. It appears that the only practical solution of the problem is to encourage the keeping by individual families of well-bred goats. Only by such means will it be possible to reduce the incidence of rickets in the Western Division of the State, an incidence which has reached, in pre-school children, the disquieting proportion of 25 per cent. (c) Provision of Fruit and Vegetables.—During a few months in the year it may be possible in certain localities to grow vegetables, but owing to local conditions such supplies must always be sporadic. It is essentia], therefore, that a continuous and adequate supply be facilitated from productive areas of the State. It is worthy of note that not a single case of scurvy was discovered in the course of the survey. This immunity is considered to be due to the consumption of potatoes and pumpkin, both of which are sources of vitimin C. These two vegetables are not damaged by transport to the same extent as many other varieties of fruit and vegetables, but a still greater variety of vegetable products could, no doubt, be assured by preferential transport rates. It may then be possible to transfer the comparative abundance of favoured portions of the State such as the Irrigation Area to isolated districts, where the need is so great. The problem of the supply of milk, fruit, and vegetables to the districts under review is, at the time of writing, under consideration by the Departments of Agriculture and of Health. If a solution of this aspect of the problem can be found it will be possible to institute, with reasonable prospects of success, a campaign for control of the present situation. In concluding these comments, it is desirable to stress the fact that the malnutrition in the Western Division of the State must not be considered to be representative of the State as a whole. This may seem so obvious a« not to warrant mention. Unfortunately, the figures obtained in this survey have been quoted overseas, as applying to the State generally, so that this warning may not be amiss. A further point which might profitably be mentioned is that the condition of rickets ascertained during the course of this survey is not rickets of gross degree such as exists in large cities of the old world. Our cases were diagnosed as rickets by clinical and radiographic examinations, but most reliance was placed on the radiographic examination of the epiphysis of the wrist. This may be regarded as a very searching refinement; on the other hand, it may be regarded as a means for ascertaining the slightest indication of rickets or of metabolic processes liable to favour the development of that condition. It may be definitely asserted that florid rickets of the usual clinical type which occurs in Europe is extremely rare in Australia. SUPERVISION OVER FOOD AND DRUGS. A total of 36,861 samples were examined in the Chemical Laboratory in 1937, of which 34,569 were samples submitted for the purposes of the Pure Food Act. Milk Samples examined totalled 25,903, of which 17,896 were collected in the metropolitan area, 0-89 per cent, of these samples were found to be adulterated; of 3,204 country milk samples examined, 4-55 per cent, were adulterated; and of 4,803 samples submitted by the Milk Board, 1-31 per cent, were adulterated. Addition of Preservatives to fresh meat, including tripe and brains : 8,192 meat samples were examined in the Chemical Laboratory, and it was found necessary to institute 220 prosecutions and issue 149 warnings for use of prohibited jireservatives. Fines and costs imposed amounted to £500. Prosecutions were successfully instituted against butchers for selling as smoked mutton legs of mutton that had been artificially coloured. As the result of inspections at the Municipal Poultry Markets, over 1,800 birds offered at auction were destroyed as unfit for human consumption. Fancy “ Food ” Names.—There is a growing tendency on the part of manufacturers to use misleading fancy names for food mixtures; and during the year it was found necessary to restrict use of such ternis as “ Cream,” “ Jelly Cream,” “ Butter,” “ Milk Jelly Crystals,” etc. PURE FOOD REGULATIONS. The formulation of a number of new standards and amendment of various regulations necessitated a revised issue of the Pure Food Regulations, which were published as a supplement to Government Gazette No. 140 of 23rd September, 1937 ; amendments were published in Government Gazette No. 145 of 1st October, and No. 153 of 15th October, 1937. The revision included a number of important amendments in connection with the hygienic handling of foods, and the control of local trading conditions such as premises, equipment, appliances, vehicles, etc. Clause 4 of Regulation 77 prohibits the addition of food packages of metallic ornaments and similar substances liable to cause contamination. Enamel Ware.—A standard issued excludes the use of poisonous glazing materials in the manufacture of enamel ware. Quackery and Patent Medicine Sales.—Costly advertising campaigns are being conducted by several firms, who claim special merits for the particular patent medicines they are vending. Misleading statements continue to be made by radio broadcasts concerning many of the preparations offered for sale.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31485285_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
