[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Northampton County Borough.

Inspection and Supervision of Food (continued) Food Poisoning. 13 cases of food poisoning were notified under Section 26 of the Food and Drugs Act, 1955, in Northampton County Borough. This is equal to an attack-rate of 0T2 per thousand of the population. All were sporadic cases and inquiry did not reveal the mode of infection. Sampling of Food and Drugs. 125 samples (including 78 informal) were taken by the public health inspectors under the Food and Drugs Act, 1955. Normally this work is done on a rota and samples are taken on a basis of 3 per 1,000 population, at least one-third being milks, but owing to acute shortage of staff the programme had to be seriously curtailed. Sampling includes enforcement of the provisions of the Labelling of Food Order and the various food standards regulations. The nature of the samples submitted to the Public Analyst is given in Table 9. 28 samples (22 4 per cent.) were found to be not genuine. This high rate is mainly due to the non genuine milk samples. These were found to be the fault of the cows yielding poor milk and the matter was referred to the Milk Production Officer, Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. (See also Complaints and Contraventions, page 46). Table 9. Northampton C.B., 1960. Food and Drugs. Samples taken for Analysis. NATURE OF SAMPLE FORMAL INFORMAL TOTAL NUMBER NO. NOT GENUINE TOTAL NUMBER NO. NOT GENUINE Beverages ... Butter, English farm . 1 1 Cake, Battenburg .. . 1 1 Cakes, fish.. i Chicken breast, canned . 1 1 1 Confectionery . 1 A 1 T Dripping, roast pork ... . *T 1 J Fish, meat, etc., potted . 1 7 Fish, tinned ..... A, Flavours, essences, etc. jL 7 Flour, cereals .. 2 1 jL 4 1 Honey . i Jams and other preserves s Margarine ... i Marzipan, almond icing .. 1 Milk ...... 43 16 Milk, evaporated . i Pastes, spreads, etc. a Pork, picnic shoulder .. i Sauces, spices, condiments . 1 1 5 i 1 Sausages . 14 1 Soft drinks . 4 Soup, powder ... Sugar . 4 JL Totals... 47 18 78 10