DIRECTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH OFFICES Headquarters: S. W. Corner Centre and Walker Streets, Borough of Manhattan Borough of The Bronx, 3731 Third Avenue. Telephone, 1975 Tremont Office Hours-9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 m. HOSPITALS FOR CONTAGIOUS DISEASES Manhattan-Willard Parker Hospital, foot of East 16th Street. Telephone, 1600 Stuyvesant. Diagnosis Laboratory, Centre and Walker Streets. Telephone, 6280 Franklin. INFANTS' MILK STATIONS Drug Laboratory. CLINICS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN Manhattan-Gouverneur Slip. Telephone, 2916 Orchard. TUBERCULOSIS CLINICS Manhattan-West Side Clinic, 307 West 33d Street. Telephone, 3471 Murray Hill. Telephone, 2957 Lenox. The Bronx-Northern Clinic, St. Pauls Place and Third Avenue. Telephone, 1975 Tremont. Brooklyn-Main Clinic, Fleet and Willoughby Streets. Telephone, 4720 Main. Germantown Clinic, 55 Sumner Avenue. Telephone, 3228 Williamsburg. Eastern District Clinic, 306 South 5th Street, Williamsburg. Telephone, 1293 Williamsburg. Queens-Jamaica Clinic, 10 Union Avenue, Jamaica. Telephone, 1386 Jamaica. Richmond-Richmond Clinic, Bay and Elizabeth Streets, Stapleton. Telephone, 440 Tompkins. Otisville, Orange County, N. Y. (via Erie Railroad from Jersey City). Telephone, 13 Otisville. TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL ADMISSION BUREAU Maintained by the Department of Health, the Department of Public Charities, and Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, 426 First Avenue. Telephone, 8667 Madison Square. Hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. M. B. DROWN PRINTING & BINDING CO. 49 TO 57 PARK PLACE, NEW YORK 522-D-13 (B) 2000 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. Report for Week Ending April 12, 1913. CANNED GOODS IN BAKERIES. At a meeting of the Board of Health of the Department of Health held April 8, 1913, it was decided that, upon approval by the Sanitary Superintendent in each case, the Secretary should issue to bakers permits allowing them to return condemned canned goods to the wholesalers and thus obtain the rebate to which they are entitled. This action of the Board was merely an extension of a privilege which has for some time past been granted to grocers. The action of the Board was taken upon a report of the Sanitary Superintendent which reads as follows: "At the present time an arrangement exists whereby grocerymen may return condemned goods to the wholesalers from whom they were purchased in order that rebates may be obtained and financial loss prevented. The Department of Health has never considered it proper to permit this practice in the case of bakers, but recently numerous applications have been received from bakers and bakers' supply houses requesting that a similar privilege be accorded them. I would recommend that this privilege be extended to bakers and bakers' supply houses provided the following conditions are complied with: 1. In each bakeshop there shall be a barrel, box or bin, suitably covered, upon which or over which shall be placed a sign reading as follows: "The contents of this barrel, box or bin are unfit for human consumption, are not to be used as such and are to be returned to the persons from whom purchased, for condemnation by the Department of Health." 2. Immediately upon opening a case of canned goods, every can in the case must be inspected by the proprietor of the bakeshop or one of his agents, and all swelled cans shall be placed in the receptacle provided. 3. The proprietor of the bakeshop must notify immediately the persons from whom he purchased the goods, of the presence of any material for condemnation. This notice may be served upon the salesman of the house, or may be made in writing through the mail. 4. If any "swells" are found in any bakeshop elsewhere than in the receptacle provided for under section 1, it shall be construed that these goods were to be used in the manufacture of foodstuffs, and therefore, action shall be taken against the proprietor of the bakery for having such material in his possession." TIME OF PASTEURIZATION TO BE SPECIFIED. As a result of the successive and increasingly stringent regulations put in force by the Board of Health during the past three years, the use of pasteurized milk in New York City has been greatly increased. The regulations of the Department relative to the grading and pasteurization of milk have been frequently published and are generally understood. Up to the present time, however, although dealers have been required to state upon their labels the date of pasteurization, they have not been compelled to state the hours between which pasteurization took place. The protection afforded by pasteurization continues only for a certain length of time after the process has ceased, and it is therefore important for the consumer to know when pasteurization was performed. At a meeting of the Board of Health held April 8, 1913, the following resolutions were adopted: Resolved, That the rules and regulations adopted by this Board April 9, 1912, relating to the sale of Grade A selected milk, pasteurized, requirement 5, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 5. All containers in which pasteurized milk is delivered to the consumer shall be plainly labeled "Pasteurized." Labels must also bear the date and hours between which the milk was pasteurized, the place where pasteurization was performed, and the name of the person, firm or corporation performing the pasteurization. Resolved, That the rules and regulations adopted by this Board April 9, 1912, relating to the sale of Grade B, selected milk, raw, under the heading "Pasteurized Milk." requirements 1, be and same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 1. All containers in which pasteurized milk is delivered to the consumer shall be plainly labeled "Pasteurized." Labels must also bear the date and hours between which the milk was pasteurized, the place where pasteurization was performed, and the name of the person, firm or corporation performing the pasteurization. "GRADE C" MILK MUST BE HEATED. In the classification promulgated by the Board of Health in January, 1912, Grade C milk, "for cooking and manufacturing purposes only," was defined as raw_milk not conforming to the requirements of any of the subdivisions of Grade A or Grade B. The rules at first provided that milk of this grade should not be sold at retail from stores but should be sold to restaurants, hotels and manufacturing plants only. Experience showed that until the market and trade had become adjusted to the new regulations and a larger supply of Grade A and B milk was available it would be impossible to prohibit entirely the sale of Grade C milk in stores without causing a serious milk shortage. The Department accordingly undertook a policy of steady pressure upon the milk dealers in order to get them to raise their standard of production until their milk could be sold as Grade B. In the meantime the Board of Health, in July, 1912, modified the rules and regulations so as to permit the sale of Grade C milk, provided the requirements for labeling cans and bottles were strictly complied with. This was, of course, only a temporary expedient and the Department made unremitting effort on the one hand to lessen the amount of Grade C milk on the market, and on the other, to see to it that citizens should buy Grade C milk only in the light of the fullest information as to its character. For instance, in October, 1912, the Commissioner directed that warning placards should be posted in all stores where Grade C milk was sold advising the public that "the milk sold in this store is fit for cooking purposes only." This policy had most encouraging results, and the amount of Grade B milk on the market steadily increased. When these warning signs were posted in stores it was found that in many cases the storekeepers complained at once to the dealers, thus increasing the demand for Grade B milk. But the effect of these warnings has to some extent worn away and it is found that a certain amount of Grade C milk still reaches the market and is consumed as drinking milk. Since milk of this grade is not considered by the Department as safe for drinking purposes, the Board of Health feels that the time has come for the next step in the development of its attack on this class of milk. In order to remove the element of danger to those citizens who have not heeded repeated warnings it has been decided that hereafter this class of milk must be heated in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department in order to remove the danger of infection from pathogenic germs. Accordingly the Board of Health at its meeting on April 8, 1913, adopted the following resolution: Resolved. That the following change in the rules and regulations regulating the sale of milk be made, to become effective July 15, 1913. Milk, Grade C.-For cooking and manufacturing purposes only. Definition: Raw milk not conforming to requirements of any of the subdivisions of Grade A or Grade B. -be changed to Definition: Milk not conforming to the requirements of any of the subdivisions of Grade A or Grade B and which has been heated according to the rules and regulations of the Board of Health. SAPONINE. The recent publication of Food Circular No. 1, defining the attitude of the Department of Health in prohibiting the use of saponine, has occasioned discussion and mquiries from those particularly interested in food questions. In reply to an inquiry from a trade journal, the Commissioner of Health has given a fuller statement of the position of the Department on this subject, as follows: "It has come to our knowledge that a preparation of soap bark (saponine) is used quite extensively in this country in the preparation of soda water, in ww. some kinds of 'soft' drinks and in 'fillings' used by bakers. Soap bark contains a poisonous substance and this Department considers the use of a soap bark extract or of commercial saponine in foods or food preparations in any quantity whatever an injurious adulteration and prohibits such use. The Inspectors of Food will be instructed to notify food dealers of this determination of the Department and any cases of its further use will be prosecuted. "In the United States Dispensatory the following statements are found: 'soap bark is much used in the arts for washing silks, cloth and other fabrics, for which soap would not be suitable;' also 'saponine, as found in commerce, is a powerful poison.' We have, therefore, taken the position that this substance should not be used in foods in any amount whatever. It does not seem to us to be necessary to prove that such substances, when used in very small amounts, are likely to seriously injure a consumer. Unless substances can be used for producing foam or lather on drinks to which there can be no objection when added to foods, had we not better change the fashion in 'foamy' drinks? Shaving soap makes an excellent lather or foam; it would probably be comparatively harmless if used in small amounts in beverages and yet who would approve of its use in soda water to make it foamy? The real trouble is that manufacturers of foods and food products have placed and are placing preparations on the market without sufficient regard for the welfare of the consumer. Even if the machinery were at hand for strictly enforcing the Federal Pure Food Law. localities like New York City would still be obliged to protect themselves against food frauds which originate in the City. "That the City of New York has not been able to give the people the full protection which it is entitled to is due principally to lack of sufficient inspectorial and laboratory force. This year the Department's force has been augmented by ten more Food Inspectors and two more Chemists. This makes it possible to invade hitherto unexplored fields and, when the local code of Food Standards, Chemical and Sanitary, which is now in preparation, is completed and put into force, many of the difficulties now encountered by the consumer, the manufacturer, the inspector and the courts will disappear." CONTINUED DECREASE OF DEATH RATE. There were 1,460 deaths, with a death rate of 14.18 per 1,000 of the population, reported during the week ended April 12, 1913, as against 1,600 deaths, and a rate of 16.14, during the corresponding week of 1912, a decrease of 140 deaths, and of 1.96 points. Considering the increase in population the difference in rate was equivalent to a decrease of 202 deaths. All the infectious diseases, with the exception of diphtheria and whooping cough, showed a decreased mortality. Nearly all the other principal causes showed a decreased mortality, such as the pneumonias, diarrhoeal diseases, tuberculosis, Bright's disease and nephritis, and deaths from violence. Almost fifty per cent, of the decreased mortality was among children under five years of age. The death rate for the first fifteen weeks of this year was 15.67, as against 15.83, per 1,000 of the population, during the corresponding period of 1912. |