ICE-CREAM SCARE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 203, 16 January 1913, Page 6

ICE-CREAM SCARE.

HEALTH INSPECTOR'S REPORT. At yesterday's meeting of the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board the. Board's inspector (Mr A. If. Kendall) submitted a report, a copy of which he had forwarded to the District Health Officer, in connection with the recent ptomaine poisoning' outbreak in New Plymouth. It was, he said, extremely difficult to find out the exact cause of the trouble, and, like, outbreaks in connection with ice-cream at other places, no positive cause was easy of proof. As one medical man put it. there was "110 clinch injr evidence that it was ptomaine poisoning." and all the weight of medical evidence seemed to point to the outbreak having been due to some form of bacteria! poisoning, whioh might have been caused in various ways, such as a quantity of cream having been kept too long after pasteurisation before use, thus forming a suitable medium for the reception and growth of any bacteria which might by chance have obtained access thereto from any source. It was probably unlikely that bacteria could have been introduced by any chance by means of the ice used or the bagging containing (lie same, which latter would not easily convey bacteria to the freezer, if the ice were emptied into a separate receptacle before charging the freezer, instead of emptying tile contents direct into the freezer from the bags. There was. however, no proof that either ice or bags containing the same, were the means of conveying bacteria, while with regard to the milk and cream supplied it was worthy of note that the family of one of the medical practitioners was suppled with milk and cream from the same source as the ice cream vendor affected. and no ill-effects therefrom were noticed.

Tin' Din' thin«' certain. continued the inspector. was that the bulk, if not all, of the persons affected partook of icecieam at one shop. Immediately on hearing of tin; outbreak he inspected the premises and found every evidence of honest attempts to keep everything scrupulously dean and above suspicion. He also visited the dairy which supplied the milk and cream, and found most, if not all. the appliances necessary for the proper handling and manipulation of the supply satisfactory. On two occasions he had been informed on reliable authority of a lad wiio had had twelve penny ice-creams in a short time, while conversations with medical men conclusively proved that iili less was in proportion to the amount of ice-cream consumed, and the consensus of medical opinion was that th »? outbreak was paused by some element of a 'bacterial nature. From his investigations, lie concluded that the outbreak was particularly due to the pari a king of ice-cream. and those who ate ice-cream flavoured with vanilla were evidently the chief sufferers, those partaking of the strawberry-flavored delicacy being apparently immune. Tn a supplementary report, the inspector oiid that owing to one of the medical -n having suggested that some of the >yiiij foms of patients were similar to arsenical poisoning, he had forwarded a sample of the vanilla for cxaminaii">i.