and milk products come from sources which are not inspected by the District Health Department. There are very few communities that have exercised sanitary control over the sources of production for the manufacture of ice cream, although there is some tendency to inaugurate such sanitary control measures in those communities that feel they have already brought their market milk supplies up to a high degree of excellence.

Routine inspections are made of all ice-cream plants in the District, the total number of inspections reported by the food division being 2,098 for the calendar year 1937. This total of inspections indicates an average frequency of about one inspection every 2 weeks. However, the large plants devoted exclusively to the manufacture of ice cream are inspected somewhat more frequently than the small places that only freeze and package the product. There is no regular inspection form provided for the inspection of ice cream plants similar to those in use for the inspection of dairy farms, pasteurization plants, and restaurants. The inspector of the ice-cream plants is therefore at a disadvantage in not having available in brief consolidated form the various sanitary requirements for the control of the places which he inspects.

A mimeographed publication is issued each month, which has a circulation of about 500 copies, listing the butterfat and bacterial count of the ice cream sold in the District during that month. Considering the fact that these bacterial count results usually represent only a single determination it is thought that too much importance should not be attached to them. In fact, it is considered that the publication and distribution of these results place too much emphasis on their importance.

Laboratory control.-Samples of ice cream are routinely analyzed for butterfat and bacterial count. During the calendar year 1937 there were 1,146 butterfat determinations and 1,184 bacterial counts made, which is an average of about 1 butterfat and 1 bacterial count determination per plant per month. The legal butterfat requirement is 8 percent, but there is no legal requirement relative to bacterial count. However, of the 1,184 bacterial counts, 92.2 percent were not more than 50,000 per cc and 97.8 percent were not more than 100,000 per cc. These bacterial counts are fairly low, especially when consideration is given to the relatively small amount of control work that has been done on ice cream in the District.

Survey of ice-cream plants.-During the present survey, inspections were made of the 7 large ice-cream plants in the District that are devoted exclusively to the manufacture of ice cream, of 17 of the counter freezers, and of the 2 plants in nearby Virginia that supply a large part of the pasteurized mix and cream used by the counter freezers. The inspections of these places were made on the basis of

the sanitation requirements of the tentative United States Public Health Service Frozen Desserts Ordinance, using the inspection form accompanying the original report transmitted to the District Health Department. As indicated on this inspection sheet, the figures shown in the parentheses following each of the subitems are the percent of the plants inspected that violated that particular sanitation requirement. There is also tabulated below a summary of these inspection results showing those sanitation requirements that were found to be frequently violated, together with an indication of the frequency of these violations.

A sanitation rating figure was not computed for the ice cream supply similar to that computed for the milk supply, because the United States Public Health Service Frozen Desserts Ordinance is in tentative form and weights have not yet been assigned to the various items on the basis of their relative importance.

Sanitation requirements for grade A ice cream plants in the tentative United States Public Health Service Frozen Desserts Ordinance found frequently violated

1 These items apply only to plants that pasteurize their own mix and percent violations are based only on such plants.

This item applies only to those plants that do not pasteurize their own mix or cream, and percent violation is based only on such plants.

CONTROL OF EATING AND DRINKING ESTABLISHMENTS

Organization. The sanitary control of eating and drinking establishments is a function of the food division, and three inspectors dedevote their entire time to the inspection of these places. Four bacteriologists have recently been employed whose duties are concerned with the taking of bacteriological samples to determine the efficiency of sterilization of the eating and drinking utensils.

Legal provisions.-The legal provisions relative to the sanitary control of eating and drinking establishments are contained in a 70-page compilation of laws and regulations in force July 1, 1931, entitled "Laws and Regulations Relative to Food." Additional regulations that apply but are not contained in this publication are those relating to the sale of shellfish and to the sale of milk in bottles.

Inspection and sampling. During the calendar year 1937 there were 18,768 inspections made of the 1,812 eating and drinking establishments in the District, or an average frequency of inspection of about once a month. In this period 53 permits were revoked or suspended for failure to comply with the sanitation requirements.

A score card is used in connection with the inspections, and the sanitary requirements listed thereon are practically the same as those contained in the United States Public Health Service Restaurant Inspection Form. This latter form is based on the requirements of the tentative United States Public Health Service Restaurant Ordinance. At the present time the scores of the individual places are not being published or used as an enforcement measure, but rather as an educational measure designed to bring about a general improvement in the sanitary conditions of the eating and drinking establishments. The United States Public Health Service Restaurant Ordinance is designed as a grading type of ordinance, and the superiority of this method of enforcement over the scoring method has already been discussed under the section of the report dealing with "Milk Control," and the same arguments apply in this connection.

About November 1, 1937, an intensive campaign was started relative to the adequate cleaning and sterilization of eating and drinking utensils, and the four bacteriologists recently employed are devoting their entire time to this phase of the control work. Considerable improvement has resulted from this campaign, and the program has attracted the attention of other health departments concerned with the sanitary control of eating and drinking establishments. The District Health Department is to be commended for its work in this connection, and because of the interest which has been displayed, an account is given here of the procedure.

(a) Glasses are tested for efficiency of sterilization by swabbing the lip (inside and out) and the rim of 10 glasses, using a sterile wet cotton swab which is kept in a test tube containing 5 cc of sterile

water.

(b) Plates and like utensils are sampled in a manner similar to that followed for glasses, except that the unit of surface for each of the 10 utensils examined is an area of 4 square inches.

(c) Silverware is examined by placing a total of 10 knives, forks, and spoons in a jar containing 200 cc of sterile water and agitating the contents.

(d) The criterion of satisfactory sterilization used at the present time is an average bacterial count of not more than 500 for each glass, knife, fork, spoon, plate, etc., examined.

In the approximately 3 months' time that this work has been under way 1,663 samples from glassware and 1,498 samples from silverware have been examined. The chief of the bureau estimated that at the time of this survey 50 percent of the eating and drinking establishments were complying with the standard of sterilization, and stated that no permit would be renewed this year to establishments not complying.

United States Public Health Service survey of eating and drinking establishments. During the present survey inspections were made of 50 eating and drinking establishments selected at random, using an inspection form based on the sanitation requirements of the tentative United States Public Health Service Restaurant Ordinance. As indicated on the inspection sheet accompanying the original report transmitted to the District Health Department the figures shown in the parentheses following each of the subitems are the percent of the places inspected that violated that particular sanitation requirement. The items found to be most frequently violated are summarized in the accompanying table.

A sanitation rating figure was not computed for the eating and drinking establishments inspected similar to that computed for the milk supply, because the United States Public Health Service Restaurant Ordinance is in tentative form and weights have not yet been assigned to the various items on the basis of their relative importance.

Sanitation requirements for grade A eating and drinking establishments in the tentative United States Public Health Service Restaurant Ordinance frequently found violated

1 Several establishments were checked under this item because of the possibility of contamination from overhead drain pipes.

The advisability of requiring health examinations for all employees of eating and drinking establishments has been questioned by public health officials, and it is not certain that this requirement will be retained in the U. S. Public Health Service Restaurant Ordinance in the edition to be released in the near {uture.

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF BUREAU OF FOOD INSPECTION

Meat inspection.-All meat slaughtered for interstate shipment is inspected by the veterinary inspectors of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture. The market inspector (veterinarian) of the bureau of food inspection makes ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections of the small animals slaughtered in the five local slaughterhouses, and inspects meat on sale at the 11 wholesale markets. Meats on sale in retail stores and markets are inspected by the seven inspectors engaged in the general sanitary inspection of food-handling establishments.

During 1937, 1,332 inspections were made of the five slaughterhouses. A total of 20,594 animals was slaughtered in that year, and 5 calves and 1,260 pounds of meat were condemned. Condemned animals and meats from large places are tanked, while those from the smaller ones are sent to fertilizer plants.

Rabies in animals.-Complaints regarding biting dogs are referred to two of the veterinary farm inspectors, who devote approximately half of their time to this work. In 1937 they made 3,223 examinations of 1,200 dogs reported to have bitten persons. Dogs suspected of being rabid are killed and the head is sent to the Bureau of Animal Industry for examination. No cases of rabies in animals have been found in the last 5 years. (See also "Rabies control" under section dealing with "The Bureau of Preventable Diseases.”)

Other food-handling establishments.-The public health control of milk, ice cream, and eating and drinking establishments in the District of Columbia has been discussed in preceding sections of this report. Seven food inspectors of the bureau are engaged in the sanitary inspection of all other types of food-handling establishments listed below. The table shows the number of establishments of each type, the number of inspections made in 1937, and the average number of inspections per establishment.

Food-handling establishments inspected in 1937