W. L. Mallmann

Critical Study of Machine Dishwashing

THERE is little question that improperly cleaned and sanitized dishes constitute a health hazard. There is no question that used dishes and silverware carry mouth microorganisms. Many mouth bacteria are carried on dishes and silverware. Mallmann and Devereux in 1935 1 examined beverage glasses for the presence of streptococci. In many cases where 5 glasses were examined in a tavern, 3 of the glasses, or 60 per cent, showed the presence of streptococci. Out of 15 glasses examined in one series of tests, 8 carried streptococci and one of these glasses carried hemolytic streptococci. The presence of mouth spirochetes was demonstrated by Lyons2 who collected swab cultures from 200 used and clean glasses in eight taverns in two cities. In one tavern 8 out of 62 glasses when returned from the table carried Borrelia vincentii. In another establishment 3 out of 22 used glasses and 4 out of 20 supposedly washed and sanitized glasses carried this organism. The fact that used beverage glasses carry streptococci and spirochetes, which are frequently pathogenic, is indicative of the presence of many other pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The washing of contaminated glasses in a com-

Sanitary Survey of Beverage Establishments with Reference to Sanitary Condition of Glassware.

SINCE the repeal of prohibition, there have sprung into existence numerous road-houses, taverns, saloons, and miscellaneous establishments for the dispensing of alcoholic beverages. To an alarming extent, these establishments are inadequately equipped to clean and sterilize the glassware used. Furthermore, there is a deplorable lack of information as to methods of cleaning and sterilizing and a surprising array of hurriedly concocted compounds purporting to be disinfectants on the market. To determine how effectively beverage glasses were being cleaned and sterilized, a survey was conducted in Lansing with the cooperation of the local department of health. Several months prior to this study, the City Council had passed an ordinance requiring the use of chlorine sterilizers and specifically stated that rinse waters must contain 200 p.p.m. of available chlorine. No attempt had been made to see whether these regulations were being obeyed. A preliminary survey showed that few places were even attempting proper care in the handling of glassware, and in most of these the chlorine sterilizers were being grossly misused. Few places in the entire city had satisfactory glass-

A City Department of Health Program on the Improvement of Mechanical Dishwashing

PIERE are no good practical methods for the routine testing of machine dishwash.ing. The sanitarian has examined the machines visually for improper operation and cleanliness and has checked water temperatures and bacterial contents of washed and rinsed dishes, but he has had no yardsticks for measuring fully the proper operation of the machine. The writers,1 2 have developed apparatus and techniques for measuring washing effectiveness, and time and temperature of rinse for good sanitization. The apparatus and techniques reported were primarily for research purposes, however some of the procedures appeared adaptable to routine field use. Also some of the findings suggested tests which might prove useful in checking dishwashing machines. As a result of the work reported, a tentative plan and standards for field use were formulated as follows:

HYGIENE OF WRESTLING MATS

facts in a form to put even a county seat or county on the same basis for purposes of statistical comparison of results as the metropolis of a state or the state itself. Lack of use by health officers of standard tables of mortality and morbidity where consideration is given to race, sex and age as well as the cause of sickness and death, and absence of plan and method are the primary reasons why personnel and equipment are not established in the health office to make the annual report and the current epidemiological study of the community possible. The progress which has followed the conscientious application of science to the protection of health demands as accurate, uniform and continuous a performance in the laboratory of statistics as has from the beginning characterized the work of the diagnostic laboratories of health departments. Such a standard has not yet been attained. The power of authority and professional opinion latent within these two sections of Public Health Administration and Vital Statistics, if applied with courage, could effect material improvement in the quality of morbidity and mortality reports.