Lydia Sapounaki‐Dracaki

(Panteion University)

“Food regulation in Greece: Doctors, police and municipal authorities as protectors of the food market of the city of Piraeus (1835‐1914)”

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the mode of food regulation in Piraeus, a port– city of the newly established Greek State. The pathology of the public health system apparently did not manifest itself as intensely in the Greek cities. Some cities managed with protective measures to mitigate the system’s shortcomings and thus to prove that they were among the “civilized cities.” Although the system was centralized, the Municipality of Piraeus operated with relative autonomy in regulating matters of health of the local population. In particular we will examine the degree to which the policy exercised by the municipality originated in initiatives based on new views with regard to food hygiene. Emphasis will be given to the modern municipal infrastructure, the central slaughterhouses, in which the municipal authorities tried to invest, with a view to ensuring consumer protection and the health in the city.