Few
caterers and food manufacturers used 'sell
by' dates in the 1930s. However, J. Lyons
did and strictly observed them. Granted
the dates were in code, but the management
had to learn the codes and woe betide any
member of management who had overlooked
any date.
Each
teashop prewar had three van deliveries
every day (four deliveries if the shop
remained open late). The sandwiches
delivered on any of the deliveries were
wrapped in wrappers with lettering in
different colours indicating which
delivery that sandwich arrived
in..
Sometimes
the date was incorporated in the food
product itself. The fresh cream buns had a
different colour butter cream blob on top,
again indicating the delivery - chocolate
for the first, pink for the midday, and
white for the 3 p.m.. delivery. The
checking of daily dates were religiously
checked by the management. The daily
supervisor would also check.
Fresh food
served in the teashops also had a 'life'.
I well remember that portions of fish that
had not been sold by 4 p.m.. on the day it
was delivered was destroyed. All fresh
food ordered was recorded in what was
called a Summary. All such food left
unsold was counted between 3 p.m. and 4
p.m. and those items that had reached
their 'sell by' date were destroyed,
having previously been entered in the
summary.
We alsso
had Laboratory inspectors who visited the
teashops to check on the cleanliness of
equipment - the tea openers were the
menace.
The
quality and condition of the food -
bearing in mind the prices charged - was
absolutely first class. Any member of
management found cheating or selling food
which was over dated could be
demoted.
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