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Social History of Medicine 2004 17(2):269-284; doi:10.1093/shm/17.2.269
© 2004 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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Windows and Barriers in Policy-making: Food Poisoning in Britain, 1945–56

Michael French1 and Jim Phillips1

1 Department of Economic and Social History, University of Glasgow, 4 University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UKE-mail: m.french{at}socsci.gla.ac.uk and j.phillips{at}socsci.gla.ac.uk

Public awareness of food poisoning developed significantly in Britain in the 1940s with a rise in recorded incidents, especially of salmonella from 1941. This resulted from a combination of institutional and social changes. New legislation and health provision produced a statistical profile of poisoning; infections spread more rapidly and extensively with the expansion of public and commercial catering; and from 1939, the new Ministry of Food, which drew more scientific and industrial expertise into government service, took a lead in promoting debates about the issue. This article examines the post-war policy debates and how the new data on food poisonings contributed to the policy process. The roles of Sir William Savage and the Catering Trades Working Party are evaluated in light of the observations of Pennington and James about the nature of policy-making. The article shows that the institutional, social, and political pressures for significant regulatory change were resisted by a combination of local and national business and political interests.

Keywords: food policy, regulation, food poisoning, catering, business–government relations


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