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Copyright, 1907, by P. Blakiston’s Son & Co.

This manual is descriptive in character and aims to give, within its scope, as thoroughly and intelligibly as possible, an account of the various food-products in common use in their natural and manufactured conditions, with the usual adulterations which have been found therein.

It includes information regarding Methods of Preparation and Manufacture, Food Values, Standards of Purity, Regulations for Inspection, Simple Tests for Adulterations, Effects of Storage, and similar matters pertaining to the subject.

It has been designed to interest the consumer, as well as the manufacturer, the scientific, as well as the general reader, all of whom it is hoped will find in it something useful. The consumer is entitled to know the nature of the product offered, the manufacturer and dealer the best methods of preparation. It will give the physician and sanitarian knowledge of the value of foods, their proper use and inspection, and, while not analytical in purpose, will provide the chemist with information which will guide him in his work of detecting impurities.

It has been thought advisable to give in the appendices extracts from the national laws relating to the subject, as well as the rules and regulations for their enforcement and official standards of purity, as these are now of general interest to all classes. In revising the manuscript and in reading the proofs, especial recognition is made of the valuable aid of Dr. W. D. Bigelow, Chief of the Division of Foods of the Department of Agriculture; Dr. F. V. Coville, Botanist of the Department of Agriculture, and Dr. B. W. Evermann, of the Bureau of Fisheries. Acknowledgement is also made of the favors of the Bureaus of Plant Industry, Animal Industry, and Forestry. Many helpful suggestions from other sources can only be acknowledged in this general way. All opinions respecting adulterations, misbranding, nutritive value, and wholesomeness are the individual expressions of the author and are not to be considered in any other manner. Honest and truthful practices of manufacture and labeling are to be promoted in every possible manner. In the end the true, the ethical, and the just in these practices will prevail.

Harvey W. Wiley.

Washington, D. C., May 1, 1907.

The growing importance to manufacturers, dealers, and consumers of a knowledge of food products has led to the preparation of the following manual.

Unfortunately, many misleading statements respecting the composition of foods, their nutritive value, and their relation to health and digestion have been published and received with more or less credence by the public. Claims of superior excellence, which are entirely baseless, are constantly made for certain food products in order to call the attention of the public more directly to their value and, unfortunately, at times to mislead the public with respect to their true worth.

It is not uncommon to see foods advertised as of exceptional quality, either as a whole or for certain purposes. Many of the preparations of this kind are of undoubted excellence, but fail to reach the superior standard or perform the particular function which is attributed to them. Particularly has it been noticed that foods are offered for specific purposes or the nourishment of certain parts of the body, especially of the brain and nerves. We are all familiar with the advertisements of foods to feed the brain, or feed the nerves, or feed the skin. It is hardly necessary to call attention to the absurdity of claims of this kind. One part of the body cannot be nourished if the other parts are neglected, and the true principle of nutrition requires a uniform and equal development and nourishment of all the tissues. It is true that many of the tissues have predominant constituents. For instance in the bones are found large quantities of phosphate of calcium and in the muscles nitrogenous tissues dominate. In the brain and nerves there are considerable quantities of organic phosphorus. All of these bodies, however, are contained in normal food properly balanced.

It would be contrary to the principles of physiology to attempt to feed the bones by consuming a large excess of phosphorus in the food or the muscles by confining the food to a purely nitrogenous component. Such attempts, instead of nourishing the tissues indicated, will so unbalance the rations as to disarrange the whole metabolic process, and thus injure and weaken the very tissues they are designed to support.

It seems, therefore, advisable to prepare a manual which may be used in conjunction with works on dietetics and on physiology and hygiene and yet of a character not especially designed for the expert.

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The American public is now so well educated that any average citizen is fully capable of understanding scientific problems if presented to him in a non-technical garb.

It is, therefore, not difficult to see that the great army of manufacturers and dealers in food products, as well as the still greater army of consumers, are able to receive and to utilize information concerning food products which is of common interest to all. A dissemination of knowledge of this kind will guide the manufacturer in his legitimate business and protect the public against deceptions such as those mentioned above.

In the evolution of society, economy and efficiency indicate that specializations should be made as completely as possible. For this reason it is advisable that foods of a certain character be manufactured and prepared for consumption on a large scale, so that due economy and purity may be secured. On the other hand there are many other kinds of foods which, by reason of their properties, cannot be prepared on a large scale but must be produced near or at the place of consumption. Milk is a type of this class of foods. It is altogether probable, therefore, that the consumption of manufactured foods will not decrease but increase even more rapidly than the number of our population.

In order that the people may be able to judge of the quality and character of products of this kind, information readily available appears to be highly desirable.

In the other case of the utilization of raw materials, it is equally important that the people of this country understand their nature and their functions in the digestive process. The great nutritive value of our food is found in the cereals, the meats, the fruits, and vegetables which we consume. A description of foods of this class, the places of their growth, the conditions under which they are matured and marketed, the problems which relate to their storage and transportation, their composition in respect of nutrition and digestibility, the dangers which may accrue from their decay, and the adulterations or sophistications to which they may be subjected are matters of the greatest public importance.

A treatise of this kind in order to be of its full value for which it is intended must be concise, expressed in simple language, in a form easily consulted, and yet be of a character which will be reliable and which will give full information on the subject.

It is a common habit of speech to divide foods into two great classes, namely, foods and beverages. This is not a scientific division, but is one which has been so well established by custom as to render it advisable to divide this work into two portions, one devoted to food in the sense just used and the other to beverages. The first volume of this work devoted to foods will treat of those bodies commonly known under the term “foods,”—namely, cereals, meats of all kinds, milk, vegetables, nuts, and fruits. The second volume[3] will embrace the study of beverages, namely, natural and artificial mineral waters, soda waters, soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa, wines, cider, beer and other fermented beverages, distilled beverages of all kinds, and mixtures or compounds thereof.

In connection with the description of the origin of foods and their general characteristics will be given a statement of their chemical composition, especially in relation to nutritive properties. The principal adulterations or sophistications to which the food products are obnoxious will be briefly described, and where simple methods of detecting adulterations are known, of a character to be applied without special chemical knowledge or skill, they will be given.

An attempt is thus made to lay before those interested, in as compact a form as possible, the chief points connected with the production of food, its manipulation, and its use for the nourishment of the body.

It is not the intention of this manual to enter at all into the subject of cooking or the physiology of foods and nutrition. That is a distinct and separate part of this problem and has already been treated in many manuals. In this connection, however, attention may be called to the great importance of proper cooking in the use of food. Raw materials of the best character, prepared and transported in the most approved manner, may be so injured in the kitchen in the process of cooking as to be rendered both unpalatable and difficult of digestion. On the contrary, food materials of an inferior quality, provided they contain no injurious substances, may be so treated by the skilled cook as to be both palatable and nutritious. The desirability of the dissemination of correct principles of cooking is no less than that of giving information respecting the materials on which the art of cookery is exercised. It may be added that the art of cookery at the present time should not be confined to the mere technical manipulation, the application of heat and of condimental substances, but should also have some reference to the actual process of nutrition.

Foods should be prepared in the kitchen, not only of a palatable character and properly spiced but also selected in such a manner as to safeguard one of the chief purposes of food, namely, the proper nutrition of the body and the avoidance of any injury to digestion.

It is commonly admitted that many, perhaps most, of the diseases of the digestive tract to which the American people are so subject arise from the consumption of rations improperly balanced, poorly prepared, or used in great excess. To the intelligent and scientific cook the information contained in this manual will especially appeal.

A PROPER RATION.

The study of the science of nutrition has revealed the character of nourishment necessary to build the tissues and restore their waste. The term “food”[4] in its broadest signification includes all those substances which when taken into the body build tissues, restore waste, furnish heat and energy, and provide appropriate condiments. The building of tissues is especially an important function during the early life of animals as it is through this building of tissues that growth takes place. The restoration of waste of tissues assumes special importance during that period of life when the weight of the body is supposed to be reasonably constant. At this time the waste of tissue in the natural processes is restored by the assimilation of new material in the same proportion.

If the assimilation of new material goes on at a greater rate than the waste of old material it manifests itself during the period of expected equilibrium in the deposition of adipose tissue and a consequent abnormal increase in weight.

In the after period of life the process of waste is naturally more vigorous than that of assimilation, and the tendency is manifested, which is wholly in harmony with the laws of Nature, to gradually diminish the weight of the body, and this continues to the extreme emaciation of old age.

It is evident, therefore, that the food consumed should be adapted to these changing periods. The growing animal needs a larger quantity of food in proportion to its actual weight than the animal which is in a state of equilibrium, that is, of mature age, and the animal which is entering upon the period of old age needs a less quantity of food in proportion to its weight than in either of the other periods of life. Thus, the rations of infants and children should be generous, the rations of mature man sufficient, and the rations of old age limited.

The food should also contain the various elements which enter into nutrition in the proper quantity. The nitrogenous constituents in food, when subjected to the ordinary process of digestion, yield a certain quantity of heat and energy but their more important function is to nourish the nitrogenous elements of the body, of which the muscles, hair, skin, and finger-nails are types. The mineral constituents of food, especially phosphorus and lime, have a general utility in promoting the metabolic functions, especially in the movement of the fluids of the body through the cell walls, and at the same time are actual nourishing materials, entering particularly into the composition of the bones and teeth.

The fats and oils which are present in the foods have the capacity of producing large quantities of heat and energy during their combustion in the body, and thus serve as a source of animal heat and muscular activity.

The starches and sugars which are the most abundant elements of our food, although they have a heat-forming power of less than one-half that of fats, are largely utilized in the production of heat and energy and in the formation of animal fat.

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To secure a proper and complete nutrition of the body it is desirable that all these elements should be so adjusted as to provide for complete nourishment without having any one of them in great excess. It is evident that an excess of any one or more of these nutrient materials must necessarily impose on the organs of the body an additional work in securing their proper elimination. This tends to overburden the excretory organs and to cause a premature breakdown thereof. This giving away of the organs may not come for many years, not, perhaps, until advanced life, but when it comes it necessarily shortens the period of human existence.

The term “balanced ration” means the adjustment of nutrients in the food in such a way as to secure complete and perfect nutrition without loading the body with an excess of any one element. This is also an important point on the score of economy. A large percentage of all the earnings of man is expended for food products, and hence these products should be used in a manner to secure the best results possible. If, by a practice of scientific nutrition, 10 percent of the value of foods could be saved it would create a fund which, could it be utilized, would minister in the highest degree to the comfort and welfare of the human family and form an abundant pension for old age.

SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF FOOD.

In the above paragraphs attention has been directed particularly to the nutritive and economic properties of food. It must not be considered that mere nutrition is the sole object of foods, especially for man. It is the first object to be conserved in the feeding of domesticated animals, but is only one of the objects to be kept in view in the feeding of man. Man is a social animal and, from the earliest period of his history, food has exercised a most important function in his social life. Hence in the study of food and of its uses a failure to consider this factor would be regrettable. For this reason it is justifiable in the feeding of man to expend upon the mere social features of the meal a sum which often is equal to or greater than that expended for the mere purpose of nutrition. This part of the subject, however, belongs especially to the kitchen and dining room, and, therefore, will not be discussed at greater length at the present time.

It is believed that a more careful study of the food he consumes will benefit man in many ways. It will lead to a wider public interest in the problem of the purity of food and the magnitude of the crime committed against mankind in the debasement, adulteration, and sophistication of food articles.

This study will impart to the social function of food an additional charm, in that the origin and character of the material consumed will be known and the properties which they possess for nourishing the body understood. This will enable man, as a social animal, to so conduct himself at table as[6] to secure the greatest possible pleasure and social benefit therefrom and at the same time avoid any injury which ignorance might permit and invite.

It may appear that the inartistic treatment of a subject of this kind, as indicated in the following pages, is not one which is calculated to excite any sympathetic interest or appeal to the natural desire for literary and artistic expression. Yet the importance of the subject is so great as to warrant the experiment of presenting the matter in this form rather than in any more elaborate and connected way.

DEFINITION AND COMPOSITION OF FOODS.

Food, in its general sense, is that which nourishes the body without regard to its physical state, that is, it may be solid, liquid, or gaseous. More particularly defined, food is that material taken into the body in the ordinary process of eating which contains the elements necessary for the growth of tissues, for the repair of the destruction to which the tissues are subjected during the ordinary vital processes and for furnishing heat and energy necessary to life. Incident to the utilization of these elements there is consumed, also, a considerable quantity of matter inextricably mingled with food in a natural way, which takes no direct part in nutrition and yet which is useful, as a mass, in promoting the digestive processes. These bodies are certain indigestible cellular tissues which are present in foods, mineral matter, and other materials which are naturally found in food products. Included in this broad definition, therefore, are many substances which are usually not thought of in the sense of food; among these are water and air. Air, however, would probably be excluded because it is not introduced into the stomach, that is, not in quantities which have any significance in the vital processes. Water, on the contrary, is one of the most indispensable constituents of food and is also used in considerable quantities as a beverage. The water, itself, is indispensable to nutrition and is also one of those bodies mentioned above which are necessary to secure the proper conduct of the digestive processes.

By means of the oxygen in the air the combustion of food in the various parts of the body is secured, and thus animal heat and energy developed. In this respect the combustion of a food product is similar in every way to the burning of coal in the production of heat and motion. The same calorific laws which govern the steam-engine are applicable, in all their rigidity, to the animal engine. The quantity of heat produced by the combustion of a certain amount of fat or sugar is definitely measured in a calorimeter and is found to correspond exactly to the quantity of heat produced by the ordinary combustion of such bodies. The term “food,” therefore, in this respect, would include the oxygen of the air without which the development of animal heat and energy would be impossible. It also includes those bodies of a[7] liquid character which are classed as beverages rather than as foods. All of these bodies have nutritive properties, although their chief value is condimental and social.

That large class of food products, also, which is known as condiments is properly termed food, since they not only possess nutritive properties but through their condimental character promote digestion and by making the food more palatable secure to a higher degree the excellence of its social function.

It is now possible to condense into a distinct expression the definition of food in the following language: Food in a general sense embraces those substances taken into the body which build tissues, restore waste, and furnish heat and energy.

CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS.

Foods may be considered under different classifications. First, as to general appearance and use three classes may be made,—foods, beverages and condiments. As types of the first division of these foods may be mentioned cereals and their preparations, meat and its preparations (except meat extracts), fish, fowl, and game. Beverages are those liquid food products which are more valued for their taste and flavor than actual nutritive value. As types of beverages may be mentioned wines, beers, distilled spirits and liquors of all characters, tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, etc. Under wines, in this sense, may be included the fermented beverages made of fruit juices, such as cider, perry, etc. Types of condiments are salt, pepper, spices, vinegar, etc. Milk, although a liquid substance, is hardly to be considered a beverage, and on account of its high nutritive properties may be classed, together with its preparations, under the first head.

Foods may also be classified as nitrogenous, starchy, oily, and condimental. Nitrogenous foods are those in which the proportion of their material containing nitrogen is large. Lean meat may be regarded as a type of nitrogenous food, since it consists almost exclusively of tissues known as protein and contains nitrogen and sulfur as essential ingredients. The white of an egg is also a typical nitrogenous food and, to a less extent, the yolk. Among vegetables, peas and beans are typical foods containing large percentages of nitrogenous matter. The gluten of wheat is also a typical nitrogenous food and the zein of Indian corn, corresponding to gluten, is a nitrogenous material.

Practically all the vegetables used as foods contain more or less protein in their constituents. Among the cereals oats has the largest quantity and rice the smallest of this valuable food material. Of oily foods the fat of animals, including butter, is a typical representative. All meats, fish, fowl, and game contain more or less fat. Of vegetables and fruits there are many[8] which contain large quantities of fat, such as nuts, oily seeds, etc. All vegetables contain more or less fat, although the succulent vegetables usually contain but little thereof. Of starchy foods there are no types in animal food, the quantity of carbohydrate material therein being extremely limited. The lobster and horse-flesh contain perhaps a little more than 1 percent of carbohydrate food, but most meats contain much less than that. Sugar and starch are typical carbohydrate foods.

The cereal grains are composed largely of starchy foods, and so are certain tubers, such as the potato, cassava, etc. Of the common cereals rice contains more starch than any other and oats the least. Sugars are intimately related to starch and are included under the term starchy food or carbohydrate food. The carbohydrate matter in the flesh mentioned above, namely glycogen, is of the nature of a sugar. Among the typical sugar foods are beets, melons, and fruits, some of which contain large percentages of sugar. All fruits contain greater or less quantities of sugar, and that is true, also, of all vegetables.

Of the plants which produce the sugar of commerce there may be mentioned the sugar-cane, the sugar-beet, the maple, and palm trees. The principal sources of the sugar of commerce are the sugar-cane and the sugar-beet.

Of the condimental foods may be mentioned spices, including pepper, mustard, cinnamon, allspice, and other foods of this class. Common salt occupies a unique position in food products. It is the only mineral substance which has any value as a condiment in human food. But it also has a more important function than its condimental character, namely, it furnishes the supply of hydrochloric acid without which digestion in the stomach could not take place. For this reason common salt must be regarded as an essential food product as well as a condiment.

EXPLANATION OF CHEMICAL TERMS.

Inasmuch as this manual is not solely intended for expert chemists and physiologists but also for the general public, a simple explanation of the use of the terms used in analytical data and tables is advisable.

Under the term moisture is included all the water which is present in a free state, that is, not combined in any way with the ingredients of the material, and other substances volatile at the temperature of drying. The water is determined by drying to a constant weight at the temperature of boiling water or slightly above. In bodies which are easily oxidized this drying takes place in a vacuum or in an inert gas like hydrogen or carbon dioxid.

Protein.

—Under this term is included all the nitrogenous compounds in a food product which contain in their composition sulfur, nitrogen, carbon,[9] hydrogen, and oxygen, forming that class of tissues represented by the gluten in wheat, the white of an egg, muscular and tendinous fibers, etc.

Ether Extract.

—Under this term is included the fats and oils, the term fat being applied to animal fat and the term oil to vegetable products. These bodies are all soluble in ether and therefore are grouped together under the term “ether extract.” There are some fats both in animal and vegetable substances insoluble in ether, but they exist in minute quantities and therefore are not separated from the extracts, but the whole matter is given together and represents practically the fats and oils in food.

There are also minute quantities of bodies not fats in foods soluble in ether, and these are included in the ether extract.

Ash.

—The term ash is applied to the residue left after the burning of food products in the air at a low temperature until the carbon has disappeared. Ash is rather an indefinite term and is applied to that residual material of a mineral nature composed of sand or silica and the carbonates or oxids of alkaline earth or alkalies. The ash also contains the principal part of phosphorus present in food products and usually a small proportion of sulfur. These bodies in the ash exist as phosphoric and sulfuric acids or their salts.

Fiber.

—The term fiber is applied to those carbohydrate products in food which are insoluble in solutions of dilute acid and dilute alkalies at the boiling temperature. Inasmuch as these separated bodies are not wholly pure cellulose they are often designated as crude fiber.

Starch and Sugar.

—The terms starch and sugar are applied to the carbohydrates in a food product of a starchy or saccharine nature, together with the other carbohydrates present which are soluble in dilute acids and alkalies.

Calories.

—The term calorie is used to denote the amount of heat-forming material contained in one unit weight of a food product. The number given represents the number of degrees of temperature produced in a unit mass of water by the heat formed in burning the unit weight of food. The unit weights employed are usually as follows: Of the food product, one gram (15 grains); unit weight of water to be heated, one kilogram (2.2 pounds); unit increment of temperature, 1°C. (1.8°F.). The expression 4000 calories therefore means that if one gram of food substance in a dry state be burned the heat produced will raise one gram of water through a temperature of 4000°C., or the unit of water (one kilogram) through a temperature of 4°C. For convenience the calories are usually expressed as small calories, namely 4000, instead of large calories, namely 4. In this manual the expression in terms of small calories, that is, the temperature increase of one kilogram of water produced by burning one gram of substance, multiplied by 1000, will be uniformly employed.

One great division of human food is meat. Technically, perhaps, the edible flesh of every animal used for human food might be described as meat. In this manual, however, preference is given to the common meaning of the term.

The flesh of animals is by common consent divided into three principal classes, namely, the flesh of terrestrial mammals, or animals not provided with wings; second, aerial animals, or animals provided with wings, and, third, aquatic animals. A very common classification of these three kinds of food is flesh, fowl, and fish. There are animals, the flesh of which is eaten by many, which are not exactly included in this classification; for instance, animals of an amphibious nature, living partly on land and partly on sea. Also many of the animals classed as aerial live chiefly upon the earth; although having wings they do not use them, such as domesticated fowls. This classification, however, is sufficiently exact for the practical purposes of a food manual and, therefore, under the head of meat is included the edible flesh of mammals living on the land.

Animals Whose Flesh is Edible.

—Probably the only complete classification of this kind would be to include every animal living on the face of the earth since, perhaps, the flesh of every animal living has been more or less eaten by man. In a civilized community, however, except in times of disaster and dire necessity, certain classes of animals only furnish the principal meat food. Nearly all the meat food consumed in the United States is derived from cattle, sheep, and swine. Goat flesh is eaten only to a limited extent and horse meat scarcely at all, and the only other meats of importance are those of[12] wild animals. The principal wild animals used for food are the deer, bear, rabbit, and squirrel. Many other wild animals, however, are eaten and in some cases highly prized. In this manual only the principal meat foods both of domesticated and wild animals will be mentioned.

Classification of Meat Food as Respects Age.

—The edible flesh of domesticated animals as well as of wild animals is eaten both in the young and full-grown state. Common names, however, designate these different classes. For instance, veal in the growing and beef for the full-grown animal, lamb for the young and mutton for the full-grown sheep, pig in the younger and pork in the full-grown swine, etc. There is no legal limit of age for such a distinction, but as long as the animal is not fully grown it may be classified under the name representing the young animal. There is a common understanding, however, that in the case of veal and lamb the animal must be under one year of age and usually not under two nor more than eight months of age. A classification of this kind is so indefinite, however, that no strict definition can be given other than that founded on the general principles above outlined.

Preparation of Animals.

—The proper sanitary conditions attending the fattening of animals intended for slaughter are of great importance to the consumer. It is a common understanding that animals intended for slaughter should be plump and healthy. Poor animals, either those which are meager from lack of food or from disease, are to be rigidly excluded from the slaughter pen. Animals intended for slaughter should be fattened under sanitary conditions with plenty of fresh water and fresh air as well as good food. The stalls in which they are fattened should be clean and well ventilated, and the sanitary conditions surrounding them should be such as to exclude contagious and epidemic diseases and provide the most favorable environment for growth and preparation for the market.

It is evident that all these conditions are to be secured by proper inspection of the animals while preparing for the market. The time will, doubtless, soon arrive in this country when the supervision of the preparation of animals for the market, the sanitary conditions under which they live, and the general environment which surrounds them shall be subjects of local, municipal, and state inspection. Since the power of the general government cannot extend to states and municipalities, these corporate bodies should take uniform and scientific action concerning all these matters. National and state conventions of municipal and state sanitary authorities should decide upon uniform systems of inspection and sanitation to which all state and municipal authorities must agree, so that a uniform and effective method of inspection and sanitation will be secured throughout the country.

When animals are transported before slaughter from one state to another the national government is then entitled to inspect and certify respecting the[13] condition of the animal thus to be transported from state to state. By thus combining municipal, state, and national inspection the rights of the consumer may be conserved, and this is the only means by which they can be kept inviolate.

It is assumed, therefore, that the animal which has been brought for slaughter has been fattened under proper sanitary conditions, has not been exposed to epidemic or contagious diseases, and outwardly is not afflicted with any disease of its own. Such a healthy animal may then be certified as fattened for slaughter.

Inspection after Slaughter.

—The inspection after slaughter is of the utmost importance, not even second to that of the proper inspection during fattening and before slaughter. The veterinarian, skilled in his science, can tell by the inspection of the vital organs of the slaughtered animal whether it is affected with any organic disease. Among cattle the most frequent organic diseases are lumpy jaw and tuberculosis. In the case of swine one of the most common of diseases is trichinosis. In the latter case an inspection of the vital organs of the animal is not sufficient. The muscles of the swine, first and most commonly affected by trichinosis, must be examined microscopically in order to eliminate the possibility of the flesh of such animals going into commerce untagged or unnoticed.

If the flesh of the swine impregnated with trichinosis be thoroughly cooked practically all of the danger to man is eliminated. The consumer, however, should not be subjected to the chance of imperfect cooking. A swine affected with trichinosis should either be refused admission into consumption or should be so tagged that the consumer should know the danger to which he is exposed in order to take the necessary precaution to safeguard his health.

Tuberculosis.

—There is a difference of opinion among veterinary and hygienic experts respecting the disposition which is to be made of carcasses affected with tuberculosis. It is claimed by some that if the tuberculosis is local, that is, does not extend beyond the lungs, there is no reason why the flesh of the animal should be refused to the consumer. The basis of this contention is founded upon the opinion of some of the most eminent veterinarians that bovine tuberculosis and human tuberculosis are entirely distinct diseases and cannot be transmitted either from the cow to man or vice versâ. It is not the province of this manual to decide this controversy, although it is only right that the consumer should be given the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, if the carcass of an animal affected with local tuberculosis is to be passed into consumption it should be plainly marked as the flesh of a tuberculosed animal,—not only the carcass as a whole, but every piece thereof that is introduced into consumption directly or after canning or mincing. The consumer is thus left free to choose for himself whether to eat such meat or not. There is a universal agreement among hygienists and veterinarians[14] that where tuberculosis is generalized, that is, has affected practically all the organs of the body, the carcasses should be condemned. No one will take exceptions to this ruling, though it does not appear very plain to the ordinary consumer why a little tuberculosis is not a bad thing if a great deal of it is a very bad thing. There is an unfortunate tendency in many quarters to neglect minute effects and only pay attention to mass action. This does not seem to be a reasonable or desirable method of procedure.

The Right of the Consumer.

—In all these cases of post mortem inspection it is the right of the consumer to be informed respecting the condition of the animal admitted to slaughter. Only the undoubtedly sound and healthy carcass should be given a free certificate. The badly diseased carcass should be condemned and refused admission to consumption. If the partially diseased carcass is to be consumed, it should be done under such a system of tagging as will absolutely protect any consumer against the use of the partially diseased carcass without his knowledge.

Summary.

—The general conclusion reached is that the consumer has the right to protection in the character of food which comes upon his table. This protection begins at the time the animals are being fed for slaughter. It continues during the time the animals are slaughtered and afterwards in the preparation of their carcasses for consumption. It does not end until the meat is delivered to the consumer properly certified as being sound and wholesome and warranted to be free from deleterious coloring matter and preservatives. The consumers of this country can have this protection if they demand it. They outnumber the makers of meat products to such an overwhelming extent as to be able to secure proper legislation, because the manufacturers themselves, as consumers, are equally interested with others in this most important point, and should themselves receive for their families the same protection that the consumer who has nothing to do with the preparation of meat products is entitled to.

Since the above paragraph was written the Congress has provided for a complete inspection of meats as outlined therein.

Slaughter and Preparation of Carcasses.

—It is not the purpose of this manual to enter into any discussion of the technique of slaughter and preparation of animals whose meat is intended to be eaten. It is believed that in this country the mechanism of this process is very near perfection, and especially so in the larger establishments where the highest skill is employed. In small slaughtering establishments and in farm slaughter there are found many points of technique which should be greatly improved. The principal thing to be considered is, first, a sudden and in so far as possible a painless death of the animal; second, the immediate withdrawal of the blood of the slaughtered animal if slaughtered otherwise than by opening the principal artery; third, the removal of the intestines and hair or hide of the animal; fourth, immediate cooling at a moderately low temperature until the animal heat is entirely radiated; fifth, the cutting of the carcass into the usual form for consumption and the removal and utilization of the débris for food or other purposes; sixth, the delivery of the meat, if to be eaten in a fresh state, in a condition secured from contamination and decay until it is in the hands of the consumer; seventh, the curing of the meat in a proper manner by salt, sugar, vinegar, and wood smoke, and the delivery thereof in an uncontaminated form to the consumer.

Natural Appearance of Cuts of Healthy Beef

These seven Plates are
reproduced by courtesy of
Armour & Co., Chicago

Beef Tenderloin

Beef Sirloin

Beef Ribs—Regular Cut

Beef Ribs—Spencer Cut

Sirloin Butts

Beef Rib

Beef Loin

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It is not established that any further manipulation than that above outlined is desirable or necessary. The use of any kind of dye or coloring matter directly or indirectly, of any so-called preservative substance other than those of a condimental nature already mentioned, or any further manipulation save that to secure low temperature and freedom from infection is not useful, necessary, nor desirable. The sooner the manufacturer of these products understands the rights of the consumer in this respect and recognizes the fundamental verity of the above postulates the better it will be for all parties. When these conditions are met all of the many and just objections which have been made to the meats of this country will pass away and they will assume in the markets of the world that position to which their natural merits, when not interfered with by maltreating during curing, entitle them.

Names Applied to the Different Pieces of Edible Animals.

—In the preparation of animals for the market experience has shown that they are best cut in certain pieces of a shape determined by the race of the animal itself and to these pieces or cuts certain definite names have been applied. The method of making these cuts is not the same in all parts of this country and various parts of different countries. In the United States the most common cuts are illustrated in the accompanying figures, with the names which are attached thereto.

The analyses here reported apply to cuts as indicated by the following diagrams. These show the positions of the different cuts, both in the live animal and in the dressed carcass as found in the markets. The lines of division between the different cuts will vary slightly, according to the usage of the local market, even where the general method of cutting is as here indicated. The names of the same cuts likewise vary in different parts of the country.

Fig. 1.—Cuts of Beef.—(Nutrition Bulletins, Office of Experiment Stations.)

The Cuts of Beef.

—The general method of cutting up a side of beef is illustrated in Fig. 1, which shows the relative position of the cuts in the animal and in a dressed side. The neck piece is frequently cut so as to include more of the chuck than is represented by the diagram. The shoulder clod is usually cut without bone, while the shoulder (not indicated in diagram) would include more or less of the shoulder blade and of the upper end of the fore shank. Shoulder steak is cut from the chuck. In many localities the plate is made to include all the parts of the fore quarter designated on the diagrams[16] as brisket, cross ribs, plate, and navel, and different portions of the plate, as thus cut, are spoken of as the “brisket end of plate” and “navel end of plate.” This part of the animal is largely used for corning. The ribs are frequently divided into first, second, and third cuts, the latter lying nearest the chuck and being slightly less desirable than the former. The chuck is sometimes subdivided in a similar manner, the third cut of the chuck being nearest the neck. The names applied to different portions of the loin vary considerably in different localities. The part nearest the ribs is frequently called “small end of loin” or “short steak.” The other end of the loin is called “hip sirloin” or “sirloin.” Between the short and the sirloin is a portion quite generally called the “tenderloin,” for the reason that the real tenderloin, the very tender strip of meat lying inside the loin, is found most fully developed in this cut. Porterhouse steak is a term most frequently applied to either the short steak or the tenderloin. It is not uncommon to find the flank cut so as to include more of the loin than is indicated in the figures, in which case the upper portion is called “flank steak.” The larger part of the flank is, however, very frequently corned, as is also the case with the rump. In some markets the rump is cut so as to include a portion of the loin, which is then sold as “rump steak.” The portion of the round on the outside of the leg is regarded as more tender than that on the inside, and is frequently preferred to the latter. As the leg lies upon the butcher’s table this outside of the round is usually on the upper, or top, side, and is therefore called “top round.” Occasionally the plate is called the “rattle.”

[17]

In Fig. 2 is shown a side of beef with the various cuts indicated as used for commercial designation.

1.	Shank	5.	Rib	9.	Clod
2.	Round	6.	Flank	10.	Neck
3.	Rump	7.	Plate
4.	Loin	8.	Chuck

Tenderloins, Sirloin Butts and Strips cut from No. 4.

Rib Rolls cut from No. 5.

Fig. 2.—Commercial Cuts of Beef.—(Courtesy of Armour & Co.)

In Fig. 6 (page 20) is shown the interior view of a hog carcass with the cuts indicated as known to the trade.

[18]

Fig. 3.—Diagram of Cuts of Veal.—(Nutrition Bulletins, Office of Experiment Stations.)

The Cuts of Veal.

—The method of cutting up a side of veal differs considerably from that employed with beef. This is illustrated by Fig. 3, which shows the relative position of the cuts in the animal and in a dressed side. The chuck is much smaller in proportion, and frequently no distinction is made between the chuck and the neck. The chuck is often cut so as to include a considerable of the portion here designated as shoulder, following more nearly the method adopted for subdividing beef. The shoulder of veal as here indicated includes, besides the portion corresponding to the shoulder in beef, the larger part of what is here classed as chuck in the adult animal. The under part of the fore quarter, corresponding to the plate in the beef, is often designated as breast in the veal. The part of the veal corresponding to the rump of beef is here included with the loin, but is often cut to form part of the leg. In many localities the fore and hind shanks of veal are called the “knuckles.”

Fig. 4.—Diagram of Cuts of Lamb and Mutton.—(Nutrition Bulletins, Office of Experiment Stations.)

The Cuts of Lamb and Mutton.

—Fig. 4 shows the relative position of the cuts in a dressed side of mutton or lamb and in a live animal. The cuts in a side of lamb and mutton number but six, three in each quarter. The chuck includes the ribs as far as the end of the shoulder blades, beyond which comes the loin. The flank is made to include all the under side of the animal. Some butchers, however, make a larger number of cuts in the fore quarter, including a portion of the cuts marked “loin” and “chuck” in Fig. 4, to make a cut designated as “rib,” and a portion of the “flank” and “shoulder” to make a[19] cut designated as “brisket.” The term “chops” is ordinarily used to designate portions of either the loin, ribs, chuck, or shoulder, which are either cut or “chopped” by the butcher into pieces suitable for frying or broiling. The chuck and ribs are sometimes called the “rack.”

Fig. 5.—Diagram of Cuts of Pork.—(Nutrition Bulletins, Office of Experiment Stations.)

The Cuts of Pork.

—The method of cutting up a side of pork differs considerably from that employed with other meats. A large portion of the carcass of a dressed pig consists of almost clear fat. This furnishes the cuts which are used for “salt pork” and bacon. Fig. 5 illustrates a common method of cutting up pork, showing the relative position of the cuts in the animal and in the dressed side. The cut designated as “back cut” is almost clear fat and is used for salting and pickling. The “middle cut” is the portion quite generally used for bacon and for “lean ends” salt pork. The belly is salted or pickled, or may be made into sausages.

[20]

Fig. 6.—Commercial Cuts of Pork.—(Courtesy of Armour & Co.)

1—Hind Foot
2—Ham
3—Rib Belly
4—Fat Back
5—Pork Loin
6—Cala Ham Butt
7—California Ham
8—Fore Foot
9—Neck

[21]

Beneath the “back cut” are the ribs and loin, from which are obtained “spareribs,” “chops,” and roasting pieces, not designated in the figure. The hams and shoulders are more frequently cured, but are also sold fresh as pork “steak.” The tenderloin proper is a comparatively lean and very small strip of meat lying under the bones of the loin and usually weighing a fraction of a pound. Some fat is usually trimmed off from the hams and shoulders which is called “ham and shoulder fat” and is often used for sausages, etc. What is called “leaf lard,” at least in some localities, comes from the inside of the back. It is the kidney fat.

As stated above, cuts as shown in the diagrams herewith correspond to those of which analyses are reported in the table beyond, but do not attempt to show the different methods of cutting followed in markets in different parts of the United States.

Delivery of Fresh Meat to Consumers.

—Perhaps the most important aid to the manufacturer, as well as a protection to the consumer, which modern science has offered to the public is the possibility of delivering fresh meats to consumers at a low temperature. A well equipped abattoir is provided with apparatus by means of which a constantly low temperature may be maintained in the room where the fresh meat is kept after the preparation described above. When the meats are to be distributed over long distances refrigerator cars or boats are provided where low temperature may be maintained.

Roast Beef.

—The parts of the beef which are used for roasting are shown in the diagram, comprising a considerable portion of the hind quarter of the beef and part of the ribs. The roast is perhaps the most important of the parts of the beef for edible purposes. The average composition of the edible part of roast beef (before cooking) is given below:

Beefsteak.

—The most important parts of the beef next to the roast are the parts used for steak. Beefsteaks have different names, such as tenderloin and sirloin, and when the latter two are joined together by the bone the whole is called porterhouse. There are also round steaks and rump steaks which are less highly prized portions of the meat, but in nutritive value are probably quite as valuable as the others mentioned. The average composition of the edible part of a large number of samples of beefsteak is given in the following table:[1]

[22]

It is seen that the roast beef contains less water, less protein, and decidedly more fat than the steak.

Roast Lamb.

—The parts of the lamb which are used for roasting are usually the hind quarters, although all of the parts are roasted at times. The average composition of a number of samples of lamb roast is given in the following table:[2]

Lamb chops

 or mutton chops are the short ribs with attached flesh of lamb or young sheep. They are considered to be the most desirable part of the young sheep or lamb for edible purposes. The average composition of the edible portion of a number of samples of lamb chops is given in the following table:

Roast lamb, as shown by the above data, has less water, more fat, and more protein than lamb chops.

Preservation of Fresh Meats.

—After delivery the meats are at once consigned to refrigerator departments in the markets, where they are preserved until they pass into the consumer’s hands. Thus, a properly fattened, properly slaughtered, and properly dressed piece of fresh meat may be brought into the consumer’s hands in a manner at once unobjectionable and at the same time one which secures it admirably from contamination of any kind. So perfect are these means of transportation that fresh meat may be sent not only from city to city but across the sea, and reach the consumer as near perfection as human ingenuity can devise.

[23]

Length of Storage.

—The question of how long meat can be safely kept in cold storage of this kind is one which has not been decided. It may be said, however, that the period should not be extended any longer than is necessary and that the consumers of meat should be provided in ordinary times, if transportation is undisturbed, with practically fresh meat. It is evident that if the principal meat-packing centers are Chicago, Omaha, and Kansas City the cities and parts of the country remote from these localities must have meat somewhat older than those which are near by. If we pass to distant countries, as for instance, Europe, where fresh meats are received from the United States or even from Australia, the time elapsing between slaughter and consumption must necessarily be long. Thus the length of time in which meat should be left in cold storage after it is properly matured depends upon its geographic distribution and is not a matter to be decided arbitrarily.

When meats are not only kept in cold storage for transportation but are actually frozen, as is often the case, they can, of course, be kept for a much longer time than when subjected merely to a low temperature at or slightly above the freezing point. For this reason meats that are to be carried to a long distance and not to be consumed for a long time after preparation are usually frozen and kept so during transport.

Effect of Low Temperature on Enzymic Action.

—Attention has been called to the fact that low temperature does not inhibit enzymic action, and, therefore, it must be admitted that this continued activity must gradually deteriorate the quality of the product. The question, therefore, which is the most important is not how long can meat be kept in a frozen condition but how short a time must it be kept. In all cases, therefore, of this kind the consumer is entitled to know the length of time during which his meat has been kept frozen, and this desirable condition of affairs is easily secured by the necessary local, state, and national inspection already mentioned.

Disposition of Fragments Arising From the Dressing of Beef.

—It is evident that the fragments of sound, wholesome meat which is dressed for delivery to commerce are themselves edible and hence there can be no hygienic or other objection to preparations made from these fragments, such as sausage and other minced and comminuted meats which appear upon the market. In other words, the consumer is entitled to know that because a piece of meat is comminuted is no reason for supposing that it is not edible.

Sausage, mince meat, comminuted meat, potted, canned, and other meats or preparations from these sound, clean, edible fragments, necessarily rejected in the process of preparing fresh meats for curing and for consumption, are entitled to the same consideration and may be looked upon with the same certainty of purity by the consumer when properly inspected and prepared as the larger pieces.

[24]

The possibility of detecting any effects of disease in meats by inspection at the time of or after delivery is very remote and therefore the inspection before killing and during the process of manufacture should be a most rigid one in the case of these fragments. Such inspection and certification would restore public confidence in the purity and hygienic properties of these meats which not only are nutritious but by the spicing and condimental treatment which they receive are rendered highly palatable and desirable.

DETECTION OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF MEAT.

When meats are in large pieces they may be recognized by their anatomical characteristics. In order that this may be done, however, the piece of meat must either be of a sufficient size to be recognized by its shape and general appearance or must have a bone of sufficient size to indicate its anatomical character.

According to the German law pieces of meat of less than eight pounds in weight are not supposed to be large enough to be recognized anatomically or otherwise with certainty. This, however, is a matter which pertains more to the meat of animals from which the bone is taken rather than to its actual size. It requires some little expert knowledge of the anatomy of animals in order to distinguish these pieces, but one who is in the habit of purchasing or cutting meats acquires this knowledge without any special study.

Odor and Taste.

—Each kind of meat may also be detected both by its odor and taste, as well as by its physical appearance and shape. Beef, mutton, pork, and other meats in a proper state of preparation and preservation have characteristic odors and flavors by which they are easily detected. One of the common faults of cooking is the putting together of meats of various kinds in the same oven, by means of which the odors become so intermingled that in small pieces even the experienced taster may not always be able to discriminate between them.

Detection of Meat by Microscopic Appearance.

—Meats are so nearly related histologically that the microscope is not a certain means of detecting the different varieties. Were this the case it would be easy to identify the different kinds of meat which may be found in a finely comminuted mixture. The expert microscopist may have difficulty in discriminating between different microscopic portions of meat, but the microscope is of practically no advantage to any but an expert and not a very great advantage to him. The fibers of some animals vary in size, coarseness or fineness of texture, and other characteristics as much as fibers do from different animals.

Detection by Chemical Examination.

—The most satisfactory method of detecting meats is by means of their chemical examination. There are two distinct points which are kept in view in a chemical examination. One[25] is the presence of glycogen, which in quantities of more than one percent is characteristic of horse meat. Unfortunately, this test can only be applied to a meat in practically a fresh state, as the glycogen is rapidly changed into other forms of carbohydrate substances which make it difficult to identify. The chemical examination, therefore, which is of the most value is that which is performed upon the fat. The fat of different animals has different physical and chemical characteristics. The fats crystallize in different forms and have different melting points,—also the fatty acids derived therefrom. They absorb different quantities of iodin and bromin, and have other physical and chemical properties which are peculiar to each variety.

A careful examination of the fat, therefore, will lead to an approximate degree of knowledge concerning the character of the flesh from which it has been derived. For instance, lard and beef fat are easily distinguished from each other. In case a minced meat is made wholly of one kind of flesh or of one kind of animal the chemical examination of the fat will, with a considerable degree of certainty, lead to its identification. In the same manner, if a minced meat be made up of equal parts of two different kinds of animals the characteristics of the fats will lead to the identification of the two sources of meat. If, however, one kind of meat be mixed in only a small proportion, say 10 or 15 percent, of another, the chemical methods of separation are not to be relied upon. None of these chemical or physical methods, unfortunately, is of value in the hands of any but an expert, and, therefore, cannot be regarded as a common means of identification. For this reason the only common manner of identification of the kinds of meats which are sent out to the consumer at large must consist in the general knowledge of their anatomical, physical, palatable, and gustatory properties outlined above.

In all cases the consumer must eventually rely upon the official inspection and the label which accompanies the meat or which should accompany it.

Dried Meat.

—A very effective method of preserving meat is practiced in certain of the arid regions of the country by exposing it to the dry air and sunlight. Meats prepared in this way are often called “jerked” meats. The small amount of aqueous vapor in the air is not sufficient to maintain the life of the ordinary fermentative germs, and they are, therefore, destroyed by desiccation. Meat which is exposed under such circumstances does not become infected with any fermentative germ, and the moisture which it contains is rapidly given off in the dry air surrounding it. For this purpose the meat is cut into thin strips and suspended by appropriate means in the air and exposed to the direct sunlight. In a short time the moisture disappears, and the hard dry pieces keep indefinitely in certain arid regions of this country. The meat also maintains a fair degree of palatability and practically all of its nutrient properties, so that when properly cooked it is a palatable and nutritious dish. Probably of all the methods of preserving meat this one is the least open to objection, since not even spices or condimental substances are[26] necessary in order to preserve the meat from decay. By reason of the change in its physical appearance, however, which makes it less attractive, this method is not likely to come into general use in the ordinary preservation of meat.

Dried beef is also prepared by preserving the meat by condimental substances and, instead of placing it in brine, drying it artificially. Chipped or dried beef is a common article of commerce and is prepared in the manner described above. This meat, however, has already been treated with condimental substances, and hence the drying is only one of the means of preservation. Dried or chipped meats are often smoked also as well as desiccated, so that in their preparation more than one method of preservation is employed.

Pickled Meats.

—The method of preserving meats in a liquid environment is sometimes called pickling. All kinds of meat are pickled in this way, but pork especially. The pickling brine may be simply made of common salt, though other substances, such as sugar, vinegar, and spices, are used. The brine also sometimes contains a chemical preservative which is highly objectionable on the general ground of the harmfulness of these substances. The preservative commonly used is either sulfite of soda or boric acid. The making of a pickled meat of this kind should be discouraged. The vinegar which is employed or acetic acid may be injected into the carcass before it is cut up. When the arteries or veins are filled with vinegar in this way it rapidly permeates to all parts of the meat and acts as an excellent and unobjectionable preservative in all cases where an acid taste is desired. It is claimed that carcasses which have been injected with vinegar in this way are easily preserved, and require far less salt and other condimental substances than when not so treated. As vinegar is a condimental substance used everywhere, and one which promotes digestion when used in proper quantities, the preservation of meats or the pickling of meats by a previous injection of vinegar is not objectionable.

COMPOSITION OF THE FLESH OF PIGS.

Extensive investigation of the composition of the flesh of pigs has been made in the Bureau of Chemistry (Bulletin 53). The pigs upon which these examinations were made were specially bred and fattened at the Agricultural Experiment Station of Iowa, and were prepared for the market by the most approved modern style of feeding. They were slaughtered according to the approved method and immediately, after proper preparation, the carcasses were placed in cold storage, where they were kept until removal for the purpose of dissection and preparation of the samples for analyses. Expert butchers from Washington were secured for the dissecting and dressing of the pigs in the manner in which it would be done for the best market. The pigs were of different varieties, namely, Berkshire, No. 1; Tamworth, No. 2; Chester White, No. 3; Poland China, No. 4; Duroc Jersey, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7; Yorkshire, No. 8.

[27]

TABLE A.—WEIGHTS OF WHOLE CUTS AND DATA RELATING TO THE PREPARATION OF AIR-DRY SAMPLES.
PIG No. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

[28]

Preparation of Samples for Analyses.

—The meat obtained from all of the cuts of the same kind in each sample was passed through a meat chopper two or three times in order to get an even, finely divided condition. A portion of known weight was then placed in a dish and dried in a steam oven at a temperature of boiling water or slightly above and heated until the fat had well separated so that it could be poured off into a flask, with care not to remove any of the water which may have separated with it. Small samples were removed before drying for the determination of the exact quantity of fat and water therein, and the results of these analyses were used for calculating the relative portion of the large samples. Samples of skin, bones, marrow, spinal cord, tendons, hoofs, and other parts of the animal were also carefully secured and subjected to analyses. In this way the whole animal was subjected to examination for analytical data, and at the same time each particular part of it, in so far as its relation to the market is concerned, was kept separated. In Table A are found the weight of the whole cut and the data relative to the preparation of the air-dried sample.

The data show that there was a slight loss of water during the transit from Chicago to Washington. The part of the pig which has the largest percentage of fat is the meat of the tail, while the smallest percentage is found in the tenderloins. The largest percentage of water in any part of the meat is in the tenderloins and the smallest in the meat of the tail.

TABLE B.—WEIGHTS OF PARTS FROM EACH CUT AND DATA RELATING TO THE PREPARATION OF AIR-DRY SAMPLES.
PIG No. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

[29]

TABLE C.—ANALYTICAL DATA FOR MEATS.
PIG No. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

[30]

TABLE D.—ANALYTICAL DATA FOR BONES, MARROW, SKIN, SPINAL CORD, TENDONS, AND HOOFS.
PIG No. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

[31]

Similar data were obtained for all of the other samples used, but the chemical composition is so nearly the same that it is not advisable to repeat the data for the other varieties. The Berkshire for which the data are given may be taken as a fair representative of the composition of the varied parts of the meat of pigs. The comparative weights of various parts of the Berkshire pig are given in Table B.

The data show that 88.19 percent of the weight of the carcass, after dressing, is composed of meat, fat, and lean, and 7.56 percent of bone. The complete data for the variety of Berkshire pig may be taken as a type for the other varieties and is given in Table C.

The composition of the bone, marrow, skin, spinal cord, tendons, and hoofs of the Berkshire pig is shown in Table D.

The percentages of the various parts of the original material of the Berkshire pig are found in Table E.

TABLE E.—REVISED ANALYTICAL DATA.
PIG No. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

[32]

TABLE F.—DATA FOR THE ENTIRE DRESSED ANIMAL; THE HEAD, LEAF LARD, AND KIDNEYS HAVING BEEN REMOVED.
PIG NO. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

[33]

The data for the entire dressed animal after the removal of the head, hoofs, lard, and kidneys are shown in Table F.

General Conclusions.

—The composition of the flesh of pigs has been given in detail for two reasons. First, because the data relative to this point are much more complete than those of any other flesh product and were obtained in a more systematic way. In the second place, pork is one of the chief meat products of the United States,—the industry being one of great magnitude, and pork being a common article of diet among all classes of people. Further than this, the data indicate the general character of fresh meat, and illustrate as well as that of any of the typical animals the nutritive value and properties of flesh. The study of pork, therefore, may be regarded as a typical study of meat products. It is quite as important that all people should be informed respecting the nature of the wholesome meat which they consume and its value as a diet as it is that they should be certain these meats be procured from healthy animals and in a sanitary way. These two classes of knowledge together give a complete scheme of information which the consumers in this and other countries are entitled to have.

Pork, by many hygienists, is regarded as the least desirable of meat products, and it is not the purpose here to combat that idea. Granting, however, for the sake of argument, that pork is a less desirable meat food than those derived from cattle or sheep, that is all the more reason for knowing particularly everything connected with it. Modern investigations have appeared to establish the fact that swine are less subject to those forms of disease, with the exception of trichinosis, which tend to infect the meat and make it unfit for consumption than cattle or sheep. The diseases to which swine are usually subject act quickly, as a rule, and are speedily fatal, as in the case of hog cholera, whereas the diseases most to be feared in cattle and sheep are those of slow activity and those of a nature which is often not revealed until slaughter, namely, tubercular diseases. In so far, therefore, as infection from disease is concerned, previous to slaughter, it appears that the flesh of swine is less objectionable and less open to suspicion than that of cattle or sheep. One of the chief objections to the use of pork in any form, whether fresh or cured, has been based upon the unsanitary habits of the animals themselves. With the modern methods of cleanliness and care, however, the conditions under which the pigs grow and fatten are, or should be, quite as sanitary as those surrounding cattle and sheep. The consumer, of course, has the right to insist upon such sanitary conditions and these, under present laws or those which are to be enacted, will doubtless be supplied. It is believed that in this country sanitary environments and a sanitary method of feeding will develop types of animals superior to those grown in other countries, where the population is denser and where the facilities for the proper growth and fattening of the animal are less abundant. It is hoped[34] that the general diffusion of knowledge respecting all food products among our people will aid greatly in securing these very desirable results.

PRESERVED MEATS.

Meats which cannot be eaten at the time of or soon after slaughter are necessarily preserved until the time of consumption. It is difficult to draw a definite line between a preserved and a fresh meat. A general distinction is the following: Fresh meat is meat which is prepared for consumption without the use of any condiment or preservative, without sterilization, and with none of the artificial methods of keeping, except cleanliness and a low temperature.

The above definition, as will be seen, covers meat placed in cold storage. A special distinction, however, must be made in this case between meat placed in cold storage for the purpose of transportation only and meat placed in cold storage to be kept for an indefinite time. Where meats are prepared for consumption by slaughter and appropriate dressing and shipped long distances to the consumer the cold storage car, ship, and warehouse become a necessity. There is some reasonable limit for keeping such products, beyond which they should be differentiated from fresh meats. Whenever meats are kept in cold storage so long as to afford the opportunity for the growth of a mould, or undergo other changes of a chemical or physical character which distinguish them from the fresh products, they should be placed in a different class. Fresh meats may, therefore, be divided as follows:

Class I. Meats intended for immediate consumption and passed to the consumer within, at the most, one week after slaughter. Class II. Cold storage meats, which are placed in refrigerators, frozen, and kept for a longer period than one week. There is evidently also a limit to the length of time which meat should remain in cold storage, no matter how low the temperature may be, since the action of organisms which produce decay cannot be entirely overcome. The exact limit at which frozen meats can be kept without becoming inedible has not been determined. Without this determination, however, it is advisable that such limit should not be approached. Inasmuch as the supply of fresh meat is practically uniform, or can be made so by the dealer therein, there seems no good reason for the storage of meat in refrigerator compartments for a longer time than is necessary for transportation and a reasonable time thereafter for passing into consumption, except in cases of emergency. It might be safe to say that no meat should be kept in a cold storage warehouse longer than a month after its reception. Numerous instances might be cited in which meat may be kept for a much longer time, but the question for the consumer is not how long a while meats can be kept but how soon they can be placed in his hands. In this connection it should not be forgotten that it is the opinion of perhaps the majority of hygienists and connoisseurs that fresh meat,[35] especially beef, improves for a certain length of time in cold storage. It is probable that the fresh beef which is served to the people of the United States is on an average a month old, and is said to be improved by keeping this length of time. This is a question, however, which is still undetermined, and it deserves a further investigation. Under present conditions it is well to know the truth respecting these matters and to realize that the fresh meat we get, such as beef and mutton, is not direct from the shambles but has been kept for at least four weeks in cold storage.

Effect of Long Cold Storage.

—It has been stated in semi-scientific publications that the flesh of a mammoth incrusted in polar ice and presumably thousands of years old has been found to be intact and edible. This story, lacking corroboration, is hardly in harmony with known facts. The author had the opportunity of examining a quarter of beef which had been kept frozen in a warehouse for more than eleven years. This meat was found to be wholly inedible. It had an unpleasant and mummy-like odor, was light in fiber and color, having evidently lost a large part of its weight, and was of a character wholly unsuitable for consumption. This fact appears to show that eleven years is too long a time in which to keep meat frozen. In fact, it is scarcely worth while, from a practical point of view, to discuss so long a limit. Only the necessary time for the preparation and transportation of the meat is to be considered, and the sanitary laws of the nation, states, and municipalities should undoubtedly regulate the time of cold storage and see that all packages of meat exposed for sale are plainly tagged as to the date of slaughter, in order that the consumer may know.

In the consideration of the subject of preserved meats there are excluded all meats delivered in the fresh state for consumption and meats kept in cold storage in a fresh state during the necessary time of preparation and transportation say, on the whole, from four to eight weeks. Meats kept longer than this may generally be considered as preserved meats, even when cold is the only factor active in their preservation.

Method of Preserving Meats.

—Aside from cold storage there are four methods in vogue for preserving meats. These may be classified as follows: (1) Curing with the aid of condimental substances; (2) treatment with chemical and non-condimental preservatives; (3) sterilization with heat; (4) drying. These all except the second may be regarded as legitimate means of preserving meats.

Curing with Condimental Substances.

—This method of preserving meat has been practiced from the remotest antiquity. The chief condimental substances employed are salt, sugar, vinegar, and wood smoke. With the proper technical skill and knowledge of the process, meats can be preserved in this way, and at the same time aromas and flavors developed which are considered most agreeable by the consumer and which give an additional value to the[36] product. It is not to be claimed in any case that condimental preservatives add anything to the nutritive value of the product, except in so far as condiments themselves aid the digestion by exciting in a perfectly proper way the activity of the glands which secrete the digestive ferments.

It is not the purpose here to describe the technical processes used. In general it may be said that the application of salt is the first process, and this is done as soon after the slaughter as possible to secure the proper cooling of the carcass, usually from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The meat, properly cut into the forms known to commerce, is carefully packed and heavily salted, and allowed to remain for some time in contact with the salt or with the brine which is produced therefrom. The salt penetrates to the interior of the flesh and hardens, to some extent, the tissues, abstracting water therefrom, and, without being wholly germicidal in character, prevents the introduction of eggs of insects and the development of ordinary germ life. The salt, however, does not entirely inhibit the enzymic action which tends to ripen the meat and make it more palatable. It naturally gives to the meat the salty flavor which is demanded by the taste in a preparation of this kind.

Sugar is used, if at all, always in connection with salt as a preservative for meats. It may be employed in the pure state, but is usually the yellow or low-grade sugar or molasses. It gives to the preserved meat, especially ham, a flavor and quality much appreciated by the consumer.

The application of wood smoke is usually the last process after the meats are properly cured in salt and sugar. The pieces are suspended in a convenient room and underneath is built a fire of hard wood, which is kept smouldering as much as possible in order to produce the maximum of smoke and minimum of heat. Oak, maple, and hickory woods are most highly prized for this purpose, since they develop on burning a rich aroma which imparts to the flesh a delicate flavor.

The object of curing the meat is, first, to prevent decay; second, to impart the flavor of the well known condiments mentioned above, and third, to favor the development of the enzymic action which has the property not only to make the meat more aromatic than it otherwise would be, but also more pleasant to the taste.

The curing of meat in this respect may be compared to the development of a cheese, except that the enzymic action in the case of meat is one of minimum extent, while in the case of cheese it is one of maximum intensity. In addition to the condimental substances above mentioned spices of different kinds are sometimes added. Vinegar is also used at times as a condimental substance and is, to a certain extent, also a preservative substance, but vinegar is chiefly used in the preservation of vegetable substances rather than meats in bulk. For meats which are spiced as well as preserved as above, vinegar is often used as one of the ingredients, intended as a condimental substance. No other[37] substances than those mentioned above are necessary to the proper curing of meat, but convenience of application and certain other considerations have led packers of meats, when not prevented by law, to abandon the old methods to a certain extent and substitute what is known as the quick-aging process described below.

Preservation by Means of Non-condimental Chemical Preservatives.

—The use of non-condimental chemicals in the preservation of meat is practically an industry of the last quarter of a century. Up to that time the use of non-condimental chemicals was practically unknown in the meat industry. The chemicals employed are those known as germicides. In the quantities used they neither impart a taste nor odor to a preserved meat, but by their germicidal properties prevent the development of organic ferments and thus make the preservation of meat far more certain and very much less expensive. By the use of some chemicals the salting, sugaring, and smoking of preserved meats may be done with very much less care, in a very much shorter time, and at a very greatly reduced expense. For this reason the practice has gained a great vogue, not as a means of benefiting the consumers, but rather as a means of enriching the packer and dealer. Chemical preservatives are also highly objectionable because they keep meats apparently fresh, while in reality changes of the most dangerous character may be going on. They thus prevent the display of the red light danger signal.

Preservatives Used.

—The principal chemical preservatives used in the curing of meats are borax and boric acid and sulfite of soda. There are many other chemical preservatives which have been employed, but these are by far the most useful, the most certain, and the most widely employed. Borax and boric acid, of the two classes, are by far the more common. Sulfite of soda is used more as a preservative of color, and is probably found more frequently on fresh than on preserved meats. Borax has the property of paralyzing fermentative action and thus securing immunity from decay. Its use, however, tends to diminish the palatability of the meat because of its restraining influence upon the condimental method of preservation described above. The meats are more quickly preserved, require less condimental substances, and the borax probably inhibits, to a certain degree, the enzymic action of a favorable kind, described above.

The use of any kind of a chemical preserving agent on meat is most reprehensible, no matter what they may be. Unfortunately, experts differ respecting the influence of these chemical preservatives upon health. The users of chemical preservatives have employed experts of known fame and distinction to testify in favor of these products, while the consumer, perhaps, is not able to go to the expense of securing expert testimony, and, therefore, as respects numbers of witnesses, at least, chemical preservatives have an advantage. In a case of this kind the accused must be considered guilty until proven innocent.[38] It is not sufficient to prove in a given case that borax is not injurious. If it be proven that it is injurious in a single case conviction must ensue. There is no doubt of the fact that the injurious character of borax, even in small quantities, has been fully established, and therefore any amount of testimony to the effect that in individual cases it has not produced injurious results is of no value whatever. If a citizen be robbed and in the course of the prosecution it be shown that there are a million citizens who have not been robbed by this criminal the evidence would be of no value. If it has been shown that the individual citizen has been robbed the prisoner is convicted. No expert would testify that borax has never been injurious,—even those who appear in its favor admit that, but plead that it is generally used in small quantities, and, therefore, cannot be harmful.

The Argument of Small Quantities.

—The fallacy of the argument for small quantities is so evident that it needs only to be presented in brief form to show the intelligent and thinking people of this country the fallacy of the claims of experts in favor of chemical preservatives.

The arguments which have been advanced in excuse of the use of preservatives when used in minute quantities have, perhaps, been more vigorously urged for salicylic acid than for almost any other substance. This argument has been urged with such vigor and such ingenuity that a further reference may not be out of place here. The principle which is laid down is that a substance which is injurious to health when added to foods, if not a natural constituent thereof, or if not added for condimental purposes, does not lose its power of injury to health because it is diluted or given in small quantities. The only change which is made is to mask the injurious effects produced—to make them more difficult of ascertainment and impossible of measurement. The fallacy of the argument that small quantities of an injurious substance are not injurious may, perhaps, be best represented graphically. The accompanying chart (Fig. 7) shows theoretically the normal and lethal dose of a food and a drug or, as in this case, a chemical preservative. The chart shows two curves, one representing a chemical preservative and one representing a food. The normal dose of a food is that quantity of food which maintains a healthy adult body in equilibrium. It is represented in the chart on the right by the number 100. If the quantity of food necessary to maintain the equilibrium in a healthy adult body is slightly diminished, no apparent change is at first experienced and possibly even no discomfort. If, however, the quantity of food be still further diminished progressively, as indicated by following the curve down to the left, the point is finally reached when no food is given at all and death ensues, represented by 0 on the left hand of the diagram designated “Lethal dose.” As the curve begins to deviate from the perpendicular on the right the degree of injury is very readily noticed and starvation or symptoms of starvation are set up. Thus if you follow the[39] perpendicular on the right downward to the point 80 the divergence of the corresponding point of the curve is already measurable. As you descend to 0 the magnitude of the measurement increases. It requires but very little further illustration to show how easily the effect of diminishing the normal dose of a food can be measured immediately after the curve begins to vary appreciably from the perpendicular on the right.

Fig. 7.—Graphic Chart Representing the Comparative Influences of Foods And Preservatives.

Let us now consider the perpendicular on the left, which is marked at the top under the term “Lethal dose,” namely, a quantity of the added preservative sufficient to destroy life. The normal dose of such an added chemical preservative is 0 and is shown at the base line to the right, marked “Normal dose.” If you add a very minute quantity of a chemical preservative, the curve representing it varies so slightly from the horizontal base as to be impossible of measurement by ordinary means. If we follow along to the number 75 on the horizontal base we see the deviation of the curve is sufficiently great to measure. At 50 it is still greater, at 25 still greater, while at the left of the basic line it is a maximum extending from 0 to 100, or the lethal dose. It is easy to show by mathematical data that no matter how small the quantity of an injurious substance or preservative it will still produce an injurious effect which may be infinitely small if the dose be infinitely small. It follows, then, as a mathematical demonstration that any quantity of an[40] injurious substance added to a food product must of necessity be injurious, provided it is in the nature of a drug and the body is in a perfectly healthy, normal condition.

Hence the argument which has been so persistently urged in favor of a chemical preservative, that if in small quantities it is harmless, is shown to be wholly untenable. While there is no necessity for the addition of a harmful substance, where no particular benefit is secured thereby, and where there is no disturbance of the normal state of health, there can be no possible excuse of a valid nature to offer for the exhibition of even minute quantities. That these minute quantities would not be dangerous in so far as producing any fatal effect is concerned is conceded, but that in the end they do not produce an injury even in these small quantities is certainly to be denied. The course of safety, therefore, in all these cases is to guard the opening of the door. If the admission of small quantities is permitted, then there can never be any agreement among experts or others respecting the magnitude of the small quantity, and continued litigation and disagreement must follow. On the other hand, when the harmfulness of any substance which it is proposed to add to food is established and no reason for its use can be given other than the convenience, carelessness, or indifference of the manufacturer, the exclusion of such bodies entirely from food products follows as a logical sequence and a hygienic necessity.

The third method of preparing or preserving meat is by sterilization. Of all the various methods which have been proposed there is probably none which is, theoretically, so free of objections as the preservation of meat by sterilization, in other words, as canned meats. The only important thing is that the raw material used in canning must itself be meat free of disease, obtained under sanitary conditions, and subjected to sterilization before any fermentation or decay takes place. Pure, wholesome meat thus prepared and thoroughly sterilized will remain in an edible condition for a reasonable length of time. Unfortunately, as has been shown in the testimony respecting the packing industry of the country, canned meats have not always been selected solely for freedom from disease and for palatability. The question of diseased meat is discussed in another part of this book and, therefore, may not be taken up here. There have been used for canning purposes the fragments and, perhaps, inedible portions of carcasses, and this practice cannot be too severely condemned. This does not mean that these fragments and portions of carcasses are not fit for food, but they should be collected, prepared, and sold as such with plain notices to the consumers of their origin. A cheaper supply of beef would thus be furnished for those in humbler circumstances, and no imposition of any kind would be practiced because the nature of the meat would be fully understood.

Preparation of Meat for Canning.

—In the following description it is understood that the ordinary processes of canning sound, properly prepared[41] beef are described. The question of the canning of improper samples is reserved for the remarks on adulterations.

There is no uniform practice followed, as has been carefully ascertained by a study of the different packing houses and processes for selecting and preparing meats for canning. The exigencies of trade determine this to a greater or less extent. When there is a demand in the fresh state for all the beef which can be supplied the canning industry will necessarily suffer. When there is a surplus of beef offered for sale or in case of war, where the army contracts for large quantities of canned meat, the opposite conditions probably prevail, and the best meats are used for canning purposes and those of a less desirable quality offered for sale in the fresh state. The portions of the carcass used, as described in Bulletin 13, Part 10, Bureau of Chemistry, depend, to some extent, upon the market of fresh beef. All of the meat on the fore quarter, except the shank and the “third rib,” is usually canned, and in some cases those portions are not reserved. The cheaper cuts from the hind quarter are also used for preserving purposes. Very fat, and therefore easily marketed, carcasses are not used for canning purposes except in case of unusual demand as above stated. There are two reasons for this, one of which has already been outlined, namely, that such meat brings a better price in the fresh state, and, in the second place, lean meat has a better appearance in the canned state than the fat meat. For these reasons, in the proper preparation of the meat for canning, the more fatty portions, together with the gristle, are removed and sent to other parts of the factory for making up into other kinds of food.

The meat having been selected, it is cut into pieces of approximately from one to four pounds in weight, according to the size of the tins in which it is to be placed. It is important, for the purpose of appearances, that the size of the pieces of meat in each tin be approximately the same. Also for the process of sterilization the pieces of meat should be practically the same size, so that they can all be thoroughly sterilized at the same time. If the pieces be of different sizes the small ones would become thoroughly cooked and disintegrated before the large ones became thoroughly sterilized, and thus the mass which would be presented to the view on opening the can would be unpleasant to the sight.

Parboiling.

—After the pieces have been selected and dressed they are parboiled before being sterilized. The time of parboiling varies in different packing establishments from eight to twenty minutes, according to the size of the pieces of meat. In some cases a uniform time for parboiling is prescribed, irrespective of the size of the pieces. One of the principal reasons for parboiling the meat is to secure the shrinkage, which always takes place on heating, before the meat is placed in the tins.

The experiments have shown that meats when put in tins in a fresh state and sterilized shrink to about two-thirds of their original volume. Parboiling is, in the essence, a process of shrinking. When the meat is put at once into[42] boiling water there is less loss of protein matter than when the meat is placed in cold water and heated gradually. The substances removed in parboiling are water, fat, soluble mineral matter, and the meat bases. The fat is removed by becoming rendered, and rises to the surface where it can be skimmed off. A little over one percent of the protein content of meat is lost by parboiling while the total meat bases lost amount to almost one-third of the total quantity contained in the meat. Of mineral matter in the meat as high as 50 percent is lost in parboiling.

By shrinking, parboiling tends to make a more concentrated article and thus favors transportation. Practically the nutritive value of a pound of properly canned beef is about one-third greater than that of one pound of the fresh beef of the same kind. Hence parboiling may be regarded as a perfectly legitimate and desirable process without which the beef could not be properly prepared for canning.

Tinning.

—After the meat is properly parboiled it is placed in the tins either by machinery or by hand. To each tin is added a small quantity of a liquid preparation made by the canners and known as soup liquor. This liquor generally contains salt, and sometimes a little sugar or molasses. The composition of soup liquor is as follows:

This soup liquor may be regarded as a thin soup. The origin of the liquid analyzed above was not disclosed, and, therefore, no expression can be made of the way in which it was formed. It was probably made from soup stock, namely, the waste meat and bones of the factory. There is no objection to a soup liquor of this kind provided it is made from sound, clean, and wholesome material. There are two reasons for adding this liquid, namely, to fill up the space which would otherwise exist between the pieces of meat and thus aid in the preservation of the material, and, second, to add a condimental substance which makes the contents of the tin more palatable.

Sterilization.

—After the cans are filled in this way and closed by soldering or otherwise they are placed in retorts which are composed of strong iron or steel boilers, properly covered and secured, and when these boilers are full they are subjected to the action of steam heat under pressure. Usually a small hole is left in the can through which any gas, air or other kind, is expelled from the can. As soon as everything is complete the retorts are opened and the cans are sealed.

In all cases, however, after sealing the cans they are subjected to a second heating at a temperature of from 225 to 250 degrees F. The time of heating varies from one to two hours. After removal from the retorts the cans are washed[43] with a spray of cold water for several hours, and they are then dried, painted, and labeled.

The above is a general description of the process employed which, however, is varied to some extent in different packing houses.

A modification of the above method consists in exhausting the cans in vacuo and automatically sealing them in the exhausted state, thus removing all air and other gases therefrom. The cans are then placed upon an endless conveyor and dipped into an oil bath at a temperature of 240 degrees, the speed of the conveyer being so regulated that the cans remain in the bath a sufficient length of time to complete sterilization before being carried out at the opposite end. After passing through this bath they are carried automatically into another bath consisting of a solution of carbonate of soda and, finally, into a bath of pure water. The cans are then painted and labeled as originally described.

SPECIAL STUDIES OF METHODS OF CANNING BEEF MADE IN BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY.

Composition of Beef Used for Canning.

—Samples of fresh beef intended for canning purposes, and examined in the Bureau of Chemistry, have the following composition:

The sample, of which the above data are representative, was secured from a mass of meat weighing 356 pounds, after passing through a sausage grinder and being thoroughly mixed. The above data may therefore be regarded as the representative constituents of the usual grade, most carefully selected canning beef.

Effect of Parboiling.

—A similar lot of meat secured in the same way and from the same carcass weighed 358 pounds and was parboiled as follows: The meat was placed in water in a steam-jacketed tank, the temperature of which stood at 196 degrees F. The reduction in the temperature caused by the meat was restored by heating the contents of the retort, and it was kept at 196 degrees F. for 15 minutes. It is thus seen that this parboiling was accomplished at a temperature below the boiling point of water. After the parboiling was completed it was found that the meat weighed 235 pounds, showing a net shrinkage in weight of 123 pounds. This sample of meat was[44] then tinned in two-pound cans with the addition to each can of two ounces of canning jelly of the following composition:

After sterilizing, the cans were opened and the contents subjected to analysis. The data obtained are as follows:

Composition of Parboiling Water.

—The liquor, after parboiling the above sample, weighed 280 pounds and had the following composition:

The above data show that the general effect of parboiling upon the canned meat is to diminish its content of water. Only a small quantity of the soluble proteids is found in the liquor, and the other principal constituents removed, aside from water, are the meat bases and mineral content or ash. The fat in the soup liquor was not determined because it rises to the surface and is not in any sense a constituent of the liquor itself. Considerable quantities of fat were removed in parboiling, the amount depending largely upon the temperature. At a low temperature of parboiling, such as described, the amount of fat secured is far less than when the temperature of parboiling is higher.

Table Showing the Comparative Effect of Parboiling and Sterilizing upon the Fresh Beef.

[45]

Preparation of Canned Beef with More Intensive Parboiling.

—In another experiment, determining the effect of the changes produced upon the fresh meat, more vigorous preparatory operations were performed. Samples were secured from eight healthy carcasses for use in this determination. Half of the sample was reduced to sausage and secured for analysis as described, and the other submitted to parboiling, sterilizing, and analysis.

Composition of the Sample of Fresh Meat.

The original sample represented over a thousand pounds. The opposite sides of the carcasses were prepared for canning and produced the following amount of articles as sold on the market:

The above data show that only about one-third of the whole carcass is suitable for canning purposes. The best and juiciest pieces, it is noticed, are cut away and sold for other purposes. In explanation of the above data it should be stated that only the fore-quarters of the carcass were used and not the whole carcass.

In the preparation of the sample for analysis, the same selection was made as for canning, and only the canning meat was used in the preparation of the sample.

Parboiling.

—The parboiling of this sample was accomplished in the following manner: The meat was first placed in cold water, 50 degrees F., and heated by means of injected steam. In five minutes the temperature had reached 122 degrees F., and at the end of eleven minutes the boiling temperature[46] was reached and continued for one hour. The soup liquor resulting from the parboiling weighed 1,500 pounds and had the following composition:

These data show that, as in the other cases, the chief extraction from the meat during parboiling is water and the next most important removal is of meat bases and mineral matter or ash. After sterilization in the usual way the cans were opened and the canned beef subjected to analysis. The composition of the canned beef was as follows:

Composition of the Fresh and Canned Meat.

—Below is found a table similar to that already given for the other sample, showing the composition of fresh beef and the resulting canned beef.

From the above table it is seen that the shrinkage during parboiling amounts to 46.49 percent of the weight of the fresh meat. Of this shrinkage 82.85 percent is water, 14.11 percent is fat, 1.51 percent ash, and 0.82 percent meat bases. It is noticed that more than half of the water originally found in the meat is extracted by parboiling.

It seems rather anomalous that boiling a substance with water would extract water from it, but in the case of meats it is seen that half the water, or even more, which a meat contains is extracted from it by boiling in water.

[47]

The two samples given are extreme cases in the method of preparing meats for canning. In the first instance the meat is placed at once into hot water just below the boiling point and kept there for only a short time. In the second case the meat is placed in cold water and is brought to the boiling point and maintained there for one hour. In the last case the low temperature of the water in which the meat was originally placed favors the extraction of a portion of the soluble protein matter, namely, albumins, globulins, etc., while, on the other hand, the long-continued boiling to which it was subjected tends to decompose the connective tissues of the meat and causes the loss of small particles of the insoluble protein thus separated by disintegration. Although in the last case the shrinkage was much greater than in the preceding experiment, practically no insoluble protein matter was extracted, mechanically or otherwise.

Canning of Beef without Parboiling.

—To determine the amount of shrinkage which takes place and the general effect which is produced by canning meats without parboiling, samples were prepared, sterilized, and canned in the usual way, with the exception of the omission of parboiling. On opening the cans it was found in each case that the meat had shrunk to about two-thirds of its former volume and that the place was occupied by a liquid containing a number of particles of solid matter. The appearance of the sample was much less inviting than that of meat canned after parboiling.

An analysis of the sample was made, with the following results: Total weight of sample, 31 ounces; weight of canned meat, 21 ounces.

Composition of Liquid.

—The liquid in the can was examined with the following result: Weight of liquor, 10 ounces.

The above data show that the beef lost 32.06 percent of its weight in the canning, a little over half of which is water.

It appears that less protein matter is extracted when the meat is parboiled by being plunged into boiling water than when it is packed in a can without parboiling and subsequently subjected to the temperature of sterilization. In the former case the soluble proteins in meat near the surface are coagulated before they can diffuse into the surrounding water. In the other case, owing to the[48] low conductivity of meat, the temperature at the surface of the can penetrates slowly to the interior and the juices which are extracted from the meat carry with them protein matter in solution which is afterwards precipitated by heat and remains in the liquid as matter coagulated at the temperature of sterilization.

It is seen that parboiling has many advantages. It extracts less of the valuable matter from the meat, it shrinks the meat before packing so that the tins contain more nutrient matter, and it improves the appearance of the meat to the consumer when opened.

Relation of Canned to Fresh Meat.

—In the following table is given the number of ounces of canned meat in a number of cans compared with the equivalent amount of fresh beef used in filling them:

It thus appears that a can of 26.9 ounces of beef contains, as an average content, an amount of meat equivalent to 42.1 ounces of fresh beef, and retains practically all of the nutrient value of the larger quantity of fresh beef.

Canned Ham and Bacon.

—It seems unnecessary, as a rule, to can ham and bacon properly cured and transported in a suitable manner. There are occasions justifying the use of these products in tropical countries and in other places far remote from the sources of manufacture, and where the preservation of them, by reason of the character of the climate, is difficult.

The proper preparation of these articles, packing in tins and sterilizing, makes it possible to send them to the most distant points and to have them consumed in the most unfavorable climatic conditions. Canned ham, as it is found upon the market, has a higher percentage of fat and a consequently lower percentage of protein than canned beef. The ham is packed closely and the smaller pieces added for the purpose of filling up interstices between the larger pieces of meat and keeping the can full. It is reasonable to infer that the added meat is pork, although very probably it may not always be so.

Composition of Canned Ham and Bacon.

—The character of the canned ham and bacon upon the market may be illustrated by the composition of the following samples (these samples were purchased in the open market and are presumably representative of the products as commonly sold in the shops):

[49]

COMPOSITION OF CANNED HAM AND BACON.

[50]

Adulteration of Canned Ham and Bacon.

—From the above data it is seen that the products are probably true to name, and are actually ham and bacon. The principal adulterations which are found in these articles are preservatives and coloring matters. The coloring matter usually found is saltpeter which, in one instance, was present in quantities of one-tenth of one percent and the average quantity found was one-twentieth of one percent. Saltpeter is not used as a preservative, although it is often claimed by packers that such is the case. In the minute quantities in which it is employed it has little or no effect as a preservative if, indeed, it could be deemed a germicidal substance. The principal preservative which is found is boric acid. In fourteen cases examined, however, only two contained this preservative, which shows that there is no necessity for its use on any occasion. Under the new meat inspection law all meat products prepared for interstate and foreign commerce are packed under direct supervision of the Department of Agriculture, and contain no harmful color and no chemical preservative.

Canned Tongue.

—Several varieties of canned tongue are found upon the market known as ox tongue, lamb tongue, luncheon tongue, etc. The tongues of calves, steers, sheep, lambs, and swine are the ones which are usually canned, and they may be previously pickled before canning. The average composition of the canned tongue upon the market is shown from the following data based upon the examination of seventeen samples:

The data show that in the canning of tongue a large quantity of fat is present, more than the true part of the tongue contains. Nearly all of the samples examined contained saltpeter, the largest quantity found being .15 percent.

Adulteration of Canned Tongue.

—It is not probable that any meat, except the tongue itself, is used for canning, but the contents may not be true to name. The fat dressing employed is not specified, and probably its character and amount rest alone with the ideas of the manufacturer relative thereto. Presumably the fat should be of the same animal as the tongue. A critical examination of the fat will, however, reveal whether or not this is the case.

Saltpeter is the most common adulteration, and is used solely to impart or preserve the red color of the fresh meat. Boric acid is also occasionally employed. One of the samples contained boric acid.

Without inspection of the process of manufacture, it is not possible to be assured of the sanitary conditions of the meats which are sold as canned tongue[51] and also of the sanitary conditions of the canning itself. These are all matters of the highest importance to the consumer, and should be attested by proper inspection certificates. Under the new meat law only the proper articles can be certified by the officials in charge of inspection.

Examination of Fat as a Test for Adulterations.

—It is evident, from what has already been said, that the character of the fats which are used in the canning of preserved meats is not always the same as that of the meat to which they are added. A careful study has been made in the Bureau of Chemistry of the fats extracted from different canned meats. The chemical and physical characteristics of these fats are given in the following table:

It has been noticed that the crystals deposited by the evaporation of the ether solution of chicken fat resemble beef stearin in shape, but are much smaller and more delicate. It is seen that the melting point of fat in ham and bacon is rather lower than in leaf lard. It is evident, therefore, that this fat is not lard or, at least, not wholly composed of the best lard, but probably consists of the fat not usually employed for lard making.

Potted Meats.

—There is found on the market a large number of varieties of potted meat. It is difficult to describe in any scientific way these potted meats because the term “potted” is employed by all manufacturers to describe a mixture of a great many different articles, the exact composition of which is usually a trade secret. There is, apparently, an understanding among manufacturers that the labels of potted goods are not intended in any way to indicate the variety of meat or principal meats contained in the package. In the absence of any trade, sanitary, or chemical standard it is difficult to make any just criticism of the character of the potted goods upon the market.

The principal object of mentioning them here is to inform the consumer of the probable character of the potted goods which he may consume, and to let him understand that it is by no means certain that the name of the meat upon the label describes the character of the meat which he is actually eating. The chief object in the manufacture of potted meat is to make a supply of uniform character and consistency, and properly spiced and flavored to attract and hold the patronage of the consumer.

A certain degree of consistency is established by each manufacturer for each variety of potted goods made, and to obtain this consistence more or less fat[52] meat of some kind is added. It may thus be of some advantage to add the fat of pork rather than the fat of beef or mixtures of the two. It is claimed by many manufacturers that a single kind of meat does not give the desired flavor in potted and deviled goods. Therefore, meats of different origin are finely ground and mixed together, and a sufficient quantity of oil or fat added to secure the required physical consistence. For this reason cured meats, such as beef and pork, are often preferred for making potted and deviled meats because of the agreeable flavor and aroma which they impart thereto. These meats are therefore used in potting, although they cost more than corresponding quantities of fresh meat. In a character of goods so variegated as these it is impossible to lay down any rule which may guide the consumer in his choice. The widest latitude is left to the manufacturer, and the only real protection is in a strict inspection of the factory or factories where such goods are made. It is there only that the character of the materials employed and the quality of the condiments or other substances added can be determined. The day is doubtless rapidly approaching when consumers will be perfectly protected in this matter, and when no canned, potted, or deviled meats of any description will be allowed to enter into commerce without bearing the certificate of competent inspection officers as to the kind of meats used, their sanitary character, etc.

Potted meats should always be carefully sterilized and the contents of the tins should be consumed as soon as possible after they are opened.

Potted Beef.

—Potted beef, more than any other product bearing the label of potted, corresponds more closely to the character of the meat named on its label. Of four samples of commercially potted beef examined in the Bureau of Chemistry only one appeared to contain any other meat than beef. The composition of the potted beef is shown in the table on page 53.

Adulteration of Potted Beef.

—From the average data given above it is seen that the principal adulteration in potted beef, assuming that the meat is beef, is starch. Two of the four samples contained starch, one more than 14 percent and one more than 11 percent. The admixture of starch is evidently solely for fraudulent purposes, to increase the weight and bulk with a very much cheaper substance and one for which no necessity for the addition can be claimed. It also increases the quantity of water which the product will carry. Saltpeter was found in one of the four samples and boric acid in two. One of the samples contained a large quantity of tin, due probably to the action of the potted meat upon the tin lining of the can.

Potted Deviled Meats.

—The term “deviled meat” is applied to a mixture of finely ground meat with spices, condiments, and other substances, and, like the term “potted,” is used rather to indicate a miscellaneous mixture than any single compound.

All that has been said respecting the composition of potted meat applies[53] with equal force to deviled meat. If there be any difference at all it is understood by the term deviled that the spices and condiments are more pronounced in character and greater in quantity and the miscellaneous character of the goods more pronounced. Under the terms of “deviled” and “potted” may be found every kind of mixed and miscellaneous finely comminuted meat, flavored with all kinds of condimental substances and prepared so as to appeal as strongly as possible to the taste and desire of the consumer.

COMPOSITION OF POTTED BEEF.

It may be said, in connection with these goods, that there is no objection whatever to their manufacture and sale provided the meat used in their preparation is sound and sanitary, the conditions of manufacture clean and free of infection, and provided the fraudulent additions for the purpose of increasing bulk and weight are excluded, together with injurious preservatives and coloring matters, such as borax, saltpeter, sulfite of soda, etc.

Potted and deviled are not the only terms, however, which are used to express miscellaneous mixtures of meat products. The term “pâtés” is also employed for a large class of goods, among which the principal ones are the familiar pâté de foie gras, which should be made largely of fatty goose livers.

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Composition of Pâtés.

—The result of the examination of large quantities of pâtés in the Bureau of Chemistry indicates that they are made up principally of the meat of beef and pork. It is not quite certain in any case that the highly prized livers of fat geese have been employed at all to any considerable extent. There are no forms of comminuted meats of any description which are so objectionable in name as those that are sold under the name of pâtés, especially when they are ascribed to a particular composition, as is the case with pâté de foie gras. As has been remarked before, there is certainly no objection to the manufacture of these mixtures, but misleading statements concerning them are to be condemned. The manufacturer and consumer of pâté de foie gras should establish some standard of the percentage of goose livers which they should contain, and each package should be accompanied by an official certification that it has been inspected and found to be up to the standard. It is only in this way that the public can be protected against fraud and imposition. Where no descriptive word at all is used with the word pâté there is no reasonable limit to be placed upon the kind of meat used, provided it is of a sound and sanitary character. The term pâté itself means a mixture and, therefore, it is no deception and imposition upon the public to sell a pâté of a miscellaneous character, provided it does not bear any false statement regarding origin or character.

The mean composition of forty-three samples of pâtés and purées is found in the following data:

From the above data it is seen that the pâtés are characterized by a very high percentage of fat and a correspondingly low percentage of protein. A very large majority of the samples examined contained starch, the highest quantity found being 15.80 percent. Only two of the samples were found to contain saltpeter; six contained boric acid and three benzoic acid. Tin and zinc were found in a few cases.

Principal Adulterations of Mixed, Miscellaneous, Potted, Deviled, and Comminuted Meats.

—As has been observed in the analyses of the commercial articles which have been submitted it is evident that no detection of the adulteration of these minced meats with impure fragmentary, diseased, or unwholesome articles is possible in so far as chemical analysis is concerned. A microscopic analysis also often fails to reveal the true character of the meats which have been used in the preparation of these bodies. Hence the adulteration[55] of these bodies with diseased, unwholesome, unfit, and unsanitary meats cannot be controlled nor even positively affirmed after the meats are prepared and canned. Such adulterations are doubtless frequent and are the most objectionable. The only protection to the consumer is in a certificate of inspection before preparation and packing. The consumer, by refusing to purchase such comminuted meats in the absence of such a certificate, would soon compel the manufacturer to secure official inspection and certification of his products.

Adulteration with Starch.

—One of the chief adulterants in sausages and prepared meats is starch. It has been said by some hygienists that starch is not an objectionable adulterant on hygienic grounds. This, however, is not strictly true. The injection of large quantities of starch into meat tends to unbalance a ration which is fixed with certain quantities of other food and tends to increase the proportion of starchy matter therein. There are many conditions of disordered digestion in which such increases of starch, unknown to the physician or patient or even known, are highly objectionable. Hence the use of starch as an adulterant in meat of this kind is reprehensible on hygienic grounds. The principal purpose for using starch is deception. Starch increases the bulk and weight of goods, and, in the process of cooking, prevents undue shrinkage. The consumer, therefore, thinks that he has secured a larger quantity and better quality of meat than he really has, and is, to this extent, defrauded and deceived.

Preservatives.

—The preservatives which are principally used in meat are borax, boric acid, sulfite of soda, and benzoic acid. All of these preservatives have been shown, by researches in the Bureau of Chemistry, to be deleterious to health. They should be rigidly excluded from all meat as well as other food products.

Coloring Matter.

—Dyes are frequently used for coloring sausage and other minced meats. All such dyeing materials are reprehensible, both on account of the danger to health and deception. Preserved meats gradually lose the natural red tint of the fresh meat, and to that extent the color is an index of the time during which they have been preserved. Inasmuch as consumers prefer fresh meats preserved as short a time as possible, they are deceived and to that extent injured by the use of dyestuffs which impart to preserved meats a fresh appearance.

Indirect Coloring Matter.

—Certain chemicals, which of themselves have no color, serve to fix and hold, or even accentuate, the natural color of meat. The two principal chemicals used for this purpose are saltpeter and sulfite of soda. Saltpeter is used generally in preserved meats to retain and accentuate the red color thereof. Sulfite of soda is used principally on fresh meats, where it acts both as a preservative and as a retainer of color. Sprinkled over the freshly cut surface of fresh meat, sulfite of soda preserves the red tint, and the customer thinks it has just been cut. In this way he is deceived. Both of these substances[56] are highly objectionable not only on account of deception but on account of being injurious to health. In the case of saltpeter, the general opinion concerning its therapeutic action is that it is not a proper substance to mix with foods. It would be highly desirable on the part of the packer, if he deemed it necessary to use bodies of this kind, to plainly state upon each package the character and quantity of preservatives and coloring matter employed. The consumer is then left to judge for himself whether or not he desires to eat these bodies.

The principal objection to notifications of this kind is that the consumer, not being an expert as a rule, cannot form any intelligent opinion respecting the desirability of these substances in food. He is more apt to be guided by common practice in this matter and by his own opinion than by any general principles of chemistry and hygiene.

Potted Tongue.

—The term “potted tongue” may apply equally to tongue of a single character, such as beef, lamb, pork, or swine, or the mixture thereof. The examinations which have been made of the potted tongues of commerce do not indicate whether they are of a single character or whether the tongues are derived from a variety of sources. The mean composition of twenty-one samples bought in the open market, as found in the Bureau of Chemistry, is given in the following table:

Adulteration of Potted Tongue.

—In the samples examined above starch was found in four cases, the largest amount being 11.6 percent. Saltpeter was found in eighteen cases, the largest amount being .06 percent. Tin was present in thirteen cases and zinc in eight cases. Boric acid was found in fourteen cases.

From the above it is evident that the principal adulterations in potted tongue, aside from the use of meats which are not tongue, and which chemical analysis cannot disclose, are the addition of starch, saltpeter, tin, and zinc, the two latter derived either from the solder or from the can in which the goods are placed.

Canned Poultry.

—Other fresh meats, in addition to beef and pork, are canned in a fresh state. In the case of poultry the fowls are dressed and drawn and the whole carcass boiled until the meat is sufficiently cooked to facilitate the separation from the bones. The bones are then removed and the meat is canned and sterilized by practically the same method as practiced with canned beef. Game and wild fowl meats are also subjected to the same process of canning as the domesticated chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, etc. In general it may be said that there are no differences in the processes[57] employed, but the important question to the consumer is the character of the raw materials used, the sanitary conditions which attended their preparation, and their freedom from admixtures of other meats cheaper in price and of different dietetic values.

Adulteration of Canned Fresh Meat.

—Fortunately the process of sterilization is of such a character, when properly carried out, as to exclude all necessity for the addition of any preservative substances to canned fresh meat. The use of ordinary condimental substances in moderate quantities cannot be regarded as an adulteration. Hence, the addition of small quantities of salt, sugar, vinegar, and the ordinary spices, when used solely for the improvement of the taste and flavor and not for preservative purposes, is regarded as unobjectionable.

The common preservatives used in canned meat are, first, those which give color to the meat and preserve its natural red tint. For this purpose saltpeter and sulfite of soda are most commonly employed. Red dyes of any description are rarely, if ever, found. The preservative which is used most frequently in canned meat is borax or boric acid. That this use is not necessary is evident from the investigations which have been made in the Bureau of Chemistry which show that in most cases no preservatives at all are used. The addition of any chemical preservative is, therefore, to be regarded as unnecessary and as an adulteration.

The use of any diseased, tainted, decomposed, or filthy meat, even if it is of the same origin as that in the can, is an adulteration of the most serious character and which can only be effectually controlled by the inspection mentioned above. The adulteration of the meat of fowls of all descriptions by cheaper meats, such as pork or veal, even if they be of wholesome and sound character, is an adulteration said to be often practiced and one which it is difficult to detect if the particles of meat are finely comminuted.

Standard for Preserved Meats.

—The standard for preserved meat is the same as that for fresh meat which is given in the Appendix (Circular 19, Office of Secretary, Department of Agriculture). The meat must be sound, wholesome, clean, freshly taken from the slaughtered animal, and not one that has died from disease, suffocation, or otherwise, and must conform in name and character to the meat of the animal.

Frequency of Adulteration.

—The examination made of numerous samples of canned meat in the Bureau of Chemistry shows that the adulteration of these foods is rather common but by no means general.

Canned Horse Meat.

—Horse meat is commonly used for human food in many European countries, although it is believed that it is not used to any extent in the United States. When procured from healthy animals in a proper way there is no hygienic objection to its use, though it is considered to be somewhat tougher than the flesh of other animals more commonly employed as food,[58] but that is probably due to the fact that horses are not raised for food purposes and are usually not used for such until they are worn out in domestic service. There are many sentimental and often religious objections to the use of horse meat, but experience has shown that it is wholesome and nutritious. Horse meat is characteristic in containing more natural sugar, commonly known as glycogen, than any of the other ordinary meats used for human consumption. It approaches in its content of sugar some of the shell-fish flesh, such as that of the lobster. Practically all of the horse meat which is prepared in this country is exported to Europe. There are cases, however, on record of the sale of horse flesh to domestic consumers. Especially could it be used in this way in the form of sausage or other finely comminuted products without much danger of detection.

Composition of Horse Meat.

—A number of samples of horse meat of undoubted origin and wholesomeness have been examined in the Bureau of Chemistry and the data tabulated. The average composition of sixteen samples of horse meat, representing different parts of the carcass, is shown in the following table:

Composition of Dry Material—

The high percentage of glycogen in horse meat is one of the safest methods of determining its character when comminuted or cut up into pieces so small as not to be identified by the usual anatomical characteristics. Very few other kinds of edible flesh contain as much as one percent of glycogen. Glycogen is a transitory product which tends naturally to be broken up into other substances, and, hence, even in horse meat after slaughter, it may rapidly disappear and thus, unless the meat is examined at once, very little glycogen may be found in it. A safer test for horse meat is in the nature of the fat therein. This fat does not tend to change as the glycogen does, and, therefore, in a pure preparation of horse meat even in a finely comminuted state the separation and examination of the fat will lead to a determination of the character of meat employed. The fats of horse meat have a lower melting point,[59] a higher iodin number, and a higher heat value when mixed with sulfuric acid than those of beef.

Indeed, these differences are so marked as to afford a ready means of detection to the practical chemist. Even in the mixture of horse meat with other meat the variation in the character of the fats will be such as to lead to a correct judgment respecting the approximate amount of horse meat which has been used, provided it forms any notable amount of the mixture.

Canned Cured Meats.

—Sterilization is such a certain method of preventing the decay of meats that it has now come into use to a large extent in the final preservation of shipments of cured meats. The object of curing, as has already been stated, is not merely to prevent the meat from decaying, nor is it intended to inhibit entirely enzymic action. On the contrary, if the method of curing were such as to entirely stop fermentative action, the flavors and aromas of preserved meats, upon which their value so much depends, would be eliminated, and we would simply have a mass of tasteless meat, preserved from decay by the application of chemical preservatives of a character to impart neither flavor nor aroma to the meat and at the same time prevent the activity of the various ferments above described. Such methods of preparation, naturally, should never be of general use, because in cured meats the consumer demands the flavor which naturally proceeds from the ordinary method of curing. After curing and when subjected to transportation the meats may undergo decomposition and reach their destination in a spoiled state. To avoid this it has been a customary practice to pack the meat in a chemical preservative, such as borax. This is, however, a very objectionable practice because even in the cured state the meat is still absorptive, and the borax, which is packed externally upon it, as a precaution during transit, must necessarily penetrate to a certain extent to the interior of the meat. By packing cured meat in tins and subjecting these tins to sterilization complete immunity from decay may be secured and there is no damage done to the aroma or flavor. We, therefore, find upon the market at the present time in tinned, canned, or potted form almost every variety of meat that is used either in a fresh state or after the usual method of curing.

Canned Sausage.

—One of the most important of cured meats which is offered for sale is sausage. Sausage may be canned either in the fresh or cured state and, of course, may be adulterated in both conditions. Canned sausage should have a clean bill of health from the local inspector the same as any other meat food.

There is, perhaps, more room for deception in the manufacture of sausage than in almost any other form of comminuted meat. When properly treated with condimental substances, such as salt, spices, vinegar, etc., sausages are highly prized as a food product, and justly so. In the canned state sausage[60] should undergo no other manipulation than spicing and sterilization at a temperature necessary to kill all fermentative germs and prevent decay.

Composition of Canned Sausage.

—Twenty-five samples of canned sausage examined in the Bureau of Chemistry had the following average composition:

The above data show that canned sausage differs from fresh meat largely in its composition, especially in the much higher content of fat and lower content of water which is found therein.

Adulteration of Canned Sausage.

—The principal adulteration, as has already been stated, is in the admixture of meats of unknown and miscellaneous origin and possibly inedible in character. The degree of comminution to which sausage is subjected renders it difficult in the inspection of sausage itself to determine the character of the animal from which it is made. The study of the fat is the most useful guide in such cases. Presumably sausage is made almost exclusively of beef and pork, but, as a matter of fact, much which is not eaten under its own name may be found in sausage.

Next to the introduction of meat of an improper character the most important adulteration is the common use of starch. Starch is very much cheaper than meat, and its abundant use enables a greater profit to be made. It is highly esteemed, also, as a “filler,” on the ground that it prevents the shrinkage of sausage when fried. Starch granules under the influence of heat are gelatinous, holding moisture with tenacity and preventing shrinkage in bulk.

The presence of starch in sausage must be regarded as an unjustifiable adulteration unless the amount therein is plainly marked on the label of the package.

The use of preservatives in the curing of sausage is a very common practice and, hence, canned sausages are found to often contain boric acid or borax and sulfite of soda especially. Dyes of various kinds are also used in coloring sausage or its covering, largely of a coal tar origin.

The proper safeguard for the consumer in regard to the character of sausage is in the inspection of the factory. It is highly important that each municipality and state should have a rigid system for the inspection of sausage, and the sausage thus inspected should bear the certification of the kind of meat used and its general character. The presence of inspectors in factories would prevent the use of preservatives which, it has been shown by the researches of the Bureau of Chemistry, are prejudicial to health.

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Magnitude of the Meat Industry.

—According to the census of 1905, showing the results of the tabulation of the statistics of slaughtering and meat packing and slaughtering, wholesale, for the calendar year 1904, forming a part of the census of manufactures of 1905, which was taken in conformity with the act of Congress of March 6, 1902, the figures indicate that there has been a normal increase in the slaughtering and meat packing industry in the United States, as compared with the statistics of 1900, which covered the fiscal year ending May 31st.

Comparative figures for 1905 and 1900 are shown in the following summary:

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GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

It is evident, from the foregoing description of the methods of preparing and sterilizing meat, that it is a process which commends itself both on account of the economy in the use of meat which it secures and because of the nutritive value of the products obtained.

The real value of the products must necessarily depend upon the selection of the raw materials and the sanitary conditions which attend their manipulation. Experience has shown that it is not safe to leave these matters to the packers themselves. While, doubtless, the greater number of packers will exercise all possible care in the selection of the materials and in their preparation, human nature is of such a character that when opportunity for deception, fraud, and illegitimate gains are presented there are always some who take advantage of them. Hence, it may be safely said that no tinned or canned or sterilized meat of any description should be allowed to enter into consumption except when prepared under the inspection of qualified municipal, state, or national officers. The health of the animal furnishing the meat should be ascertained by inspection both before and after slaughter. This inspection should be of the most rigid kind, and all diseased animals should be excluded from entering into standard products. If it be claimed that there are certain diseases which are local only in character and which do not affect the wholesomeness of the whole carcass, special provisions can be made for this kind of meat. If admitted into consumption at all, it should be under a permanent label or tag by which the intended consumer would be informed of the character of the contents of the package.

There is a reasonable doubt respecting the suitability for human food of carcasses of animals afflicted in a moderate degree with tuberculosis, pleuro-pneumonia, lumpy jaw, or other contagious or epidemic diseases. In all such cases the rights of the consumers demand that the benefit of the doubt should be given to them and not to the owner, manufacturer, and dealer in any of the products they consume. Such meat would then enter the market under a separate grade and command a lower price, and when consumed no one would be deceived respecting its character.

It must be admitted, even if such meat be regarded as wholesome, that it is of inferior character, and cannot in any justice demand the right to pass under the name of higher grades of the article. The sanitary conditions under which such meats are prepared are of the highest importance. The slaughter house should be clean, and provided with good ventilation and natural light. The workmen should be free of disease, neatly dressed, and required to observe all necessary sanitary precautions. The débris and fragments of the packing house should be carefully removed and so disposed of as to prevent any suspicion that any part of them enters any of the products of the[63] factory. Municipal, state, or national inspection should be frequent, thorough, and entirely removed from any possible influence of the packing business itself. Competent veterinary experts should pass upon the state of health of each carcass, and any one found diseased in any way should be subjected to a further careful inspection to see whether it should be admitted, under proper label and notification, as human food or consigned to the fertilizer heap. It is only by such inspection as this that the consumer can secure adequate protection. After the meat is once in the can inspection will only reveal whether or not preservatives and coloring matter have been used, or whether the contents of the can are spoiled or in a state unfit for consumption. No examination of the contents of the can will reveal in a satisfactory manner the state of health of the carcass from which the meat has been secured or the sanitary conditions under which it has been prepared. It is hoped the new methods of inspection established by the Secretary of Agriculture will secure the desired purity of meat products.

LARD.

The fat of swine, properly separated from the other tissues, is known as lard. The process of separation is termed “rendering.” Various methods of rendering are practiced, all depending, however, upon the use of heat, which liquefies the fat and gradually frees it from its connective tissues.

Parts of Fat Used for Lard Making.

—In the making of lard the highest grades are produced from the fat lining the back of the animal and that connected with the intestines. The sheets of fat which are found lining the back of the animal furnishes a variety known as leaf lard. All parts of the fat of the animal not used in the meats themselves may be used in the manufacture of lard. In the preparation of the carcass, the parts cut off in trimming the pieces and containing fat are sent to the rendering tank. The leaf lard is also removed by tearing it off from the back of the animal, and the intestinal fat is separated from the viscera in like manner. There is probably no question of wholesomeness between the lards made from different parts of the carcass. The lard differs in its chemical composition and its physical consistence as determined by its location in the body. Inasmuch as it is important that lard should have a certain degree of consistence even in summer time and not become too soft or liquid in character, the lard which has a high melting point is preferred, especially during the summer. The lards made from the feet and some other parts of the hog have lower melting points. The different kinds of fat from all parts of the animal might be mixed together and a lard made therefrom representing the average consistence of the fat of the whole body. A small quantity of stearin is often added to raise the melting point, but the addition of this substance without notice must be regarded as an adulteration.

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Names of Different Kinds of Lard.

—The names applied to the different kinds of lard may be referred principally to the parts of fat used, such as leaf lard, intestinal lard, etc., or to the method of preparing it. The old-fashioned method of preparing lard for family use consisted in placing the fat in an open kettle and heating usually over the open fire. The rendering takes place as the mass increases in temperature, so that the residual tissues become browned by the high temperature reached. Lard made in this way is of most excellent quality and, of course, being made under family supervision, its character is well understood and the parts of the body used are well known. In the large packing establishments the lard is usually rendered by the application of heat in the form of steam under pressure, of a suitable temperature to make the character of lard uniform. Large yields can be secured in this way with less charring of the residual tissues, and consequently a finer and whiter color in the lard itself. Lard of this kind is sometimes known as steam rendered lard.

Uses of Lard.

—The fat of swine prepared as above mentioned, and known as lard, finds a very extended use in every kitchen. It is mixed with various forms of bread making materials, cake, etc., and is often known in this sense as “shortening.” It is also employed for lubricating the pans and other culinary utensils used for baking purposes. It is sometimes employed for the purpose of cooking by the process of frying or of introducing the substance to be cooked directly into the hot lard, as in the frying of oysters, the making of doughnuts, and similar operations. Lard has come to be looked upon as a necessity in every kitchen, even of the humblest citizen.

Many objections are made to the use of lard on hygienic grounds, and probably on account of its cheapness and general utility it is more freely used in American cooking than it should be. In other words, American cooking is under the reproach of being too greasy. There is no reason to question the digestive and nutritive value of lard when used in proper quantities and in proper conditions. It is a typical fat food composed of materials which are almost wholly oxidized in the body and which upon combustion produce a higher number of units of heat than that of any other class of food substances.

COMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF AMERICAN LARD.

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Adulteration of Lard.

—The principal adulteration to which lard is subjected is admixture with other and cheaper fats. Among the fats which are used for this purpose may be mentioned beef fat and cottonseed oil. Beef fat has a higher melting point than lard and cottonseed oil a much lower melting point, being liquid at ordinary temperatures. A mixture of beef fat and cottonseed oil may, therefore, be made, having approximately the same melting point as lard itself. The addition of this mixture to lard would not alter its melting point to any sensible extent. Instead of using the whole cottonseed oil for the purpose mentioned it may be previously chilled and its product of a higher melting point, or as it is sometimes called, the stearin of cottonseed oil, may be used for admixture with lard. Large quantities of these mixed fats were formerly made in this country under the name of “compound lard” in which the above adulterants were the chief constituents. The laws of the various states are happily of a character which forbids the sale of a mixture of a compound of lard and other fats under the name of lard, although there is no objection to such admixture from a hygienic and dietetic point of view. There are many hygienists who are of the opinion that the more extended use of vegetable oils instead of lard would be of value to the health of the public. If this be true, the admixture of a vegetable oil with lard would improve it from a hygienic standpoint. The principal, perhaps the sole, objection to such admixtures is their fraudulent character. Vegetable oils, especially cottonseed oil, being very much cheaper than lard, their use in lard without notification cheapens the product and defrauds the customer. Lard may also be adulterated with its own stearin. In the manufacture of lard oil a residue is left of a much higher melting point and this residue may be mixed with a vegetable oil, such as cottonseed, in the production of a compound of approximately the same melting point as lard itself. In a case of this kind both constituents are fraudulent, in as much as neither the cottonseed oil nor the lard stearin may be regarded in any sense as lard.

Detection of Adulterations.

—The presence of cottonseed oil in any form in lard is at once determined by the application of a simple color test known as the Halphen test. This is not a reliable test in those cases where the animal has been fed cottonseed.

Halphen Reaction for Cottonseed Oil.

—Carbon disulfid, containing about one percent of sulfur in solution, is mixed with an equal volume of amyl alcohol. Mix equal volumes of this reagent and the oil under examination and heat in a bath of boiling brine for fifteen minutes. In the presence of as little as one percent of cottonseed oil an orange or red color is produced, which is characteristic.

Lard and lard oil from animals fed on cottonseed meal will give a faint reaction; also the fatty acids thereof.

This test is more sensitive than the Bechi test (nitrate of silver) and less liable to give unsatisfactory results in the hands of an inexperienced person.[66] It is not affected by rancidity. The depth of color is proportional, to a certain extent, to the amount of oil present, and by making comparative tests with cottonseed oil some idea as to the amount present can be obtained, but it must be remembered that different oils react with different intensities, and oils which have been heated from 200° to 210° C. react with greatly diminished intensity. Heating ten minutes at 250° renders cottonseed oil incapable of giving the reaction.

Cottonseed oil also has the property of reducing silver in silver nitrate to a metallic state. When mixed with a solution of silver nitrate under proper conditions a blackening or precipitation of black metallic silver is observed. This is known as the Bechi test which is conducted as follows:

Bechi or Silver Nitrate Test for Cottonseed Oil.

—Reagent: Dissolve 2 grams of silver nitrate in 200 cubic centimeters of 95 percent alcohol and 40 cubic centimeters of ether, adding one drop of nitric acid.

Mix 10 c.c. of oil or melted fat, 5 c.c. of reagent, and 10 c.c. of amyl alcohol in a test tube. Divide, heat one-half in a boiling water bath for ten minutes, and then compare with portion not heated. Any blackening due to reduced silver shows presence of cottonseed oil.

Other oils which have become rancid, and lards which have been steamed or heated at high temperature, contain decomposition products which have a reducing action on silver nitrate. There were found in testing a large number of salad oils some which contained no cottonseed oil, according to the Halphen test, but gave a brown coloration with Bechi reagent, and in some cases reduced silver. These same oils on being purified gave no reaction. Hence the oils or fats should be purified before testing.

To purify the oils and fats, heat from 20 to 30 grams on water bath for a few minutes with the addition of 25 c.c. of 95 percent alcohol, shake thoroughly, decant as much of the alcohol as possible, and wash with two percent nitric acid, and finally with water. The oil or lard thus purified will give no reduction at all if it contains no cottonseed oil. Heating the oils or fats to 100° C. or simple washing with two percent nitric acid is not sufficient, except in a few cases.

With oils the use of the Halphen and Bechi tests will be found to be useful as a means of approximately determining the amounts of adulteration present. If Halphen gives a reaction and Bechi does not, the adulteration with cottonseed oil is probably less than 10 percent.

The admixture of beef fat with lard is best detected by means of the microscope. The fat is dissolved in ether and allowed to slowly crystallize. If it is composed of pure lard the crystal assumes a form which is represented in Fig. 8.

If, on the other hand, beef fat be mixed with lard, the crystals will assume a radiated fan-shaped appearance shown in Fig. 9. Even one who is an expert with the microscope may not be able without some difficulty to detect these adulterations by the simple tests above mentioned.

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Fig. 8.—Lard Crystals. × 140.—(Bureau of Chemistry.)

Fig. 9.—Beef Fat Crystals. × 140.—(Bureau of Chemistry.)

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Commercial Classification of Lards.

—In addition to the kinds of lard mentioned above other varieties are known in commerce.

Neutral Lard.

—This, which is one of the best varieties of lard, is made from the fat derived from the leaf lard of the slaughtered animal in a perfectly fresh state, that is, taken immediately after slaughter and before the carcass is cold. The leaf lard, when it is removed from the animal, is at once placed in cold storage or put into cold water, in order to rapidly remove the animal heat. As soon as it is thoroughly chilled it is reduced to a pulp in a grinder and sent at once to the rendering kettle. The fat is rendered at a very low temperature, from 105 to 120 degrees F. (40-50 degrees C). It is evident that only a part of the lard is separated at this temperature, and this part is regarded as being of the best quality, almost tasteless, free of acids and other impurities. The residue from the making of neutral lard is sent to other kettles, where it is subjected to a higher temperature and the remainder of the lard extracted, which is sold under the name of another grade. Neutral lard, obtained as above, while still liquid, is washed with water containing a trace of sodium carbonate, common salt, or a dilute acid. The product thus formed is almost neutral in its reaction to litmus paper containing not to exceed .25 percent of free acid, but it has more water and mineral matter than is found in the pure rendered untreated lard. The neutral lard made in this way is not used so commonly for culinary purposes but chiefly in the manufacture of oleomargarine.

Leaf Lard.

—The residue of lard obtained by rendering the unseparated part of lard from the above process at a higher temperature is also of a high quality and is sometimes improperly designated leaf lard, a term which should be reserved for the whole product instead of a part obtained by rendering the residual leaf fat.

Choice Kettle-rendered Lard.

—The amount of neutral lard which is demanded in the manufacture of oleomargarine does not by any means exhaust the supply of leaf lard. For making choice kettle-rendered lard the leaf lard together with the fat cut from the back of the animal is rendered in steam-jacketed open kettles and produces a lard of a high quality known as kettle-rendered or choice kettle-rendered lard. The hide is removed from the fat portion of the back used for this purpose before the rendering. Both the leaf and pieces of the back are passed through a fine sausage grinder before they enter the rendering kettle. According to the requirements of the Chicago Board of Trade, choice lard, which is another term for the above variety, is to be made from leaf and trimmings only, either steam-rendered or kettle-rendered, and the manner of rendering to be branded on each package.

Prime Steam Lard.

—The prime steam lard of commerce is made as[69] follows: The whole head of the hog, after the removal of the jowl, is used for rendering. The heads are placed in the bottom of the rendering tank. The mesenteric fat adhering to the small intestines is also used in the tank. Any fat that may be attached to the heart or other organs of the animal may also be used. In those factories where kettle-rendered lard is not made the scrap fat from the back of the animals and trimmings are also used. When there is an excess of leaf it is also put in the rendering tank and, in general, all the fat portions of the body which are removed in the trimming process. It is thus seen that prime steam lard is a term which may practically represent the average fat of the whole animal.

Prime steam lard is thus defined by the Chicago Board of Trade: “Standard prime steam lard shall be solely the product of the trimmings and other fat parts of hogs, rendered in tanks by the direct application of steam, and without subsequent change in grain or character by the use of agitators or other machinery except as such change may unavoidably come from transportation. It shall have proper color, flavor, and soundness for keeping, and no material which has been salted shall be included. The name and location of the renderer and the grade of the lard shall be plainly branded on each package at the time of packing.” All the lard which is made is subjected to the approval of inspectors both as to the material employed and the method of procedure, together with the character of the final product.

Disposition of the Intestines of the Hog.

—In the term intestines is included all of the abdominal viscera of the animal but not the thoracic viscera, namely, the heart and lungs. The material is handled in the following way: When the animal is opened the viscera are separated, including the flesh surrounding the anus and a strip containing the external genito-urinary organs. The heart is thrown to one side and the fatty portions trimmed off for lard. The rest of the heart is used for sausage or for fertilizer. The lungs and liver are either used in the manufacture of sausage or for fertilizer. The rectum and large intestines are separated from the intestinal fat and peritoneum and, along with the adhering flesh and genito-urinary organs, sent to the trimmer. All flesh from the above-mentioned organs is cut away and the intestine proper is used for sausage casings. The trimmings, including the genito-urinary organs, are washed and placed in the rendering tank where lard is made. The small intestine is also separated from the fatty membrane surrounding it and prepared for sausage casings. The remaining material, consisting of the peritoneum, diaphragm, stomach, and adhering membranes, together with the intestinal fat, constitutes the “guts” which are subjected to washing in three or four different tanks. In the first tank the stomach and peritoneum are split open, and also any portion of the intestines which still adhere to the peritoneum. The portions then go from tank to tank, usually four in number, and are then ready for the rendering tank.[70] The omentum fat is cut from the kidneys, and the kidneys with any adhering fat go into the rendering vat. The spleen, pancreas, vocal cords, trachea, and œsophagus also go into the tank.

In general it may be said that everything connected with the viscera go into the rendering tank with the following exceptions: First, that portion of the intestines which is saved for sausage casings; second, the liver and lungs; third, that part of the heart free from fat.

In the killing of small hogs, where the intestines are not of sufficient size to be suitable for sausage casings, they also go into the rendering tank. It should be stated here that the grease or lard obtained by the rendering of the above described viscera, according to the statements of the manufacturers, is used solely in the manufacture of lard oil and soap, and does not enter into the lard of commerce.

When the processes of manufacture are properly controlled by official inspection the public may be assured that this disposition of the fat obtained by the rendering of the intestinal viscera is secured.

Butchers’ Lard.

—A considerable quantity of lard is made for commercial purposes by the small butcher for family use, etc. This lard is made almost exclusively by rendering in the open kettle. In the country where butchering is conducted for family use the ordinary open kettle is placed over an open fire. All parts of the fat of the animal which can be easily separated and the scraps derived from trimming the animal are used for rendering. The offal and refuse of the animal are also rendered separately and the product used for soap grease. The lard made in this way is regarded as perfectly wholesome, but it is frequently dark-colored from the charring due to rendering over the open fire and by reason of using some portions of the animal, such as tendons, from which glue is made. Such lard may contain traces or even considerable quantities of glue which, however, cannot be regarded as an unwholesome product. The partially browned residues in the kettle in the country are known as “cracklings” and are used for soap grease.

Inedible Hog Fat Products.

—In the shipping of hogs a great many are smothered and others die of disease or are in a condition, at the time of slaughter, which renders them unfit for human food, either by the presence of disease or otherwise. The fats are separated from dead animals of this class and are used for technical purposes such as burning oils, soap grease, etc. There are several varieties of these inedible fats of which the following are the principal:

White Grease.

—This grease is made chiefly from hogs which die in transit by being smothered or from freezing. Formerly it was the custom to make white grease also from the animals which died of disease, but the manufacture of this product has been restricted by certain state laws which forbid the use of animals which die of particular diseases, such as hog cholera, from being[71] used for any purpose whatever and their carcasses are to be buried so as to remove all danger of infection.

Brown Grease.

—Brown grease is a product of a lower grade than white grease and is made usually by rendering the whole animal. It is one of the by-products in the manufacture of tankage from condemned animal carcasses, the tankage being used as fertilizer. Both white and brown grease are used chiefly in the manufacture of low grade lard oil and in the making of soap.

Yellow Grease.

—Yellow grease is a product intermediate in value between white and brown grease. It is made chiefly from the carcasses of animals that die while on the packers’ hands. It is used for the same purpose as white and brown grease.

Pig’s-foot Grease.

—A special variety of grease is made from pigs’ feet as a by-product in the glue factory. This grease is used also in making lard oil and soap. It is evident that these varieties of grease are only inedible varieties of lard, and through proper inspection the public is protected against the use of these varieties of grease in the edible product.

Lard Stearin.

—Mention has already been made of the fact that by melting a fat and cooling it slowly towards its solidifying point, certain constituents of the fat which have a higher melting point separate first, leaving those constituents with a lower melting point still in a liquid condition. Those portions of an oil or fat which separate first under such conditions, are the constituents of the product which is known as stearin, while the part that remains liquid is the constituent known as olein. Lard stearin is made principally for the manufacture of mixtures and is a by-product of the highest grade of lard oil. Lard stearin is made as follows: The lard is melted and kept in a crystallizing room at from 50 to 60 degrees F., until it is filled with the crystals of the separated stearin. The product is then wrapped in the form of cakes with cloth. Each package contains from 10 to 20 pounds. The cakes are then placed in a large press with suitable arrangements to facilitate the escape of the oil and maintain the low temperature. The pressure is applied very gradually at first, and as the process advances, with increasing power. The high grade oil obtained in this way is known as prime or extra lard oil and is used for illuminating and lubricating purposes. The resulting solid product, which is principally stearin, is used as one of the adulterants of lard, that is, in making a mixture which is sometimes called lard, composed of lard stearin and cottonseed oil.

Fig. 10.

Tanks Used for Producing Lard Under Pressure.

—There are various forms of tanks used for producing steam rendered lard. In the open kettle there is a jacketed arrangement by means of which steam, at the proper temperature, is made to act upon the contents of the inner kettle. In the closed kettle the steam may be applied in the form of a jacketed arrangement[72] or introduced directly into the kettle. The residues which remain after the steaming is completed and after the lard has been drawn off are withdrawn from the conical lower portion of the kettle which can be opened for the removal of these residues. A typical kettle for rendering lard is shown in Fig. 10. The fragments of meat to be received are placed in the opening M[73] which is then properly closed when the tank is full. Steam is admitted and the condensation which is produced at first by the cold contents of the tank is drawn off through a water pipe. After the tank is thoroughly heated and the fat begins to separate the lard will rise above the water and the solid fragments and at the end of the process will fill the upper part of the tank. By means of the cocks at D it can be determined to what depth the tank is filled with lard and the lard can be drawn off through these cocks until water begins to flow. The bottom of the tank at G is then opened and the residues withdrawn, dried and ground for tankage.

Physical Properties of Lard.—Specific Gravity.—

The specific gravity of pure lard is to be determined at some definite temperature, inasmuch as a statement of its specific gravity without some reference to the temperature at which it is determined is likely to be misleading. It is not convenient to ascertain the specific gravity of a lard at a temperature below its melting point. It is customary, therefore, either to take the specific gravity at about 40 degrees C., or at a temperature of boiling water.

The average specific gravity of pure lard at 40 degrees C. (104 degrees F.), regarding water as 100, is 89, and at 100 degrees C. it is 86, the weight of water being determined at the point of greatest density, namely, 4 degrees C. (39 degrees F.). Unfortunately the specific gravity of pure lard is not very greatly different from that of other oils or other fats used in its adulteration. For this reason it is not of the highest value for determining whether or not the pure article has been subjected to adulteration.

Melting Point.

—The melting point of a pure lard is a physical characteristic of great value, since it is chiefly influenced by the part of the body of the animal from which it is made. The fat which is rendered from the foot of the hog has the lowest melting point, namely, about 35 degrees C. (95° F.). The fat adhering to the intestines has the highest melting point, namely, 44 degrees C. (111 degrees F.). The fat derived from the head of the hog has a slightly higher melting point than that from the feet. The kidney fat has a melting point of 42.5 degrees C. (108.2 degrees F.). In the steam rendered lards, representing the average of lards passed upon by the Chicago Board of Trade, the average melting point is found to be about 37 degrees C. (98.7 degrees F.). The melting point of superior or leaf lard has an average value of about 40 degrees C. (104 degrees F.).

Color Reaction.

—A pure high grade lard when mixed on a white porcelain plate with the proper amount of sulfuric or nitric acid should give only a very slight coloration. The production of any considerable quantity of color, either brown or black, indicates the presence of organic impurities in the lard.

Rise of Temperature with Sulfuric Acid.

—The various fats give different degrees of heat when mixed, under certain conditions, with strong sulfuric[74] acid. It is possible to determine the approximate degree of the adulteration of lard by applying this test. The operation is a simple one and is conducted in the apparatus shown in Fig. 11. A common test tube about 24 cubic centimeters in length and 5 cubic centimeters in diameter is hung as indicated in the figure, provided with a stopper carrying a thermometer in the center with a bent glass rod stirrer passed loosely through the stopper on the side and a funnel for the introduction of the acid on another side of the thermometer. A coil which is on the stirring rod is so arranged as to permit the bulb of the thermometer to pass through its center.

Fig. 11.

Manipulation.

—Fifty cubic centimeters of the fat or oil to be examined are placed in the test tube and warmed or cooled, as the case may be, until the temperature is the one required for the beginning of the experiment, say 35 degrees C.; 10 cubic centimeters of the strongest sulfuric acid at the same temperature are placed in the funnel, the stopper being firmly fixed in its place; the test tube containing the oil is placed in a non-conducting receptacle; the wooden cylinder lined with cork, used in sending glass bottles by mail, is found to be convenient for this purpose. The glass rod or stirrer which fits loosely in the stopper, so as to be moved rapidly up and down, is held by the right hand of the operator; with his left hand he opens the glass stop-cock of the funnel and allows the sulfuric acid to flow in upon the oil. The glass stirring rod is now moved rapidly up and down, for about 20 seconds, thus securing a thorough mixture of the oil and acid. The mercury rises rapidly in the thermometer and after two or three minutes reaches a maximum, and then, after two or three minutes more, begins to descend. The reading is made at the maximum point reached by the mercury. With pure cottonseed oil, linseed oil and some other substances the rise of temperature is so great as[75] to produce ebullition in the mass, causing it to foam up and fill the tube. To avoid this, smaller quantities of acid should be used or the oil in question be diluted with a less thermogenic one, so that the maximum temperature may not be high enough to produce the effect cited.

Chemical Properties.—Volatile Acids.

—The quantity of volatile acid arising on the decomposition of a soap made by the saponification of lard is very minute in lard of high quality. The total amount of volatile acid should not be in excess of that necessary to saturate .2 cubic centimeter of deci-normal alkali solution.

Fixed Acid.

—The quantity of fixed acid, consisting principally of oleic and stearic, in pure lard should not be less than 93 percent. The total quantity of free acid in lard, that is, acid uncombined with the glycerine, should not exceed one-half of one percent, and in neutral lard should be much less than this.

Quantity of Iodin Absorbed.

—All common fats and oils have the property of absorbing, under given conditions, certain quantities of iodin. Lard of the highest quality should not absorb more than 60 percent of its weight of iodin. The lard made from the feet and certain other parts of the animal, however, may have a larger iodin number, rising as high as 75 or even 80.

Properties of Lard.

—The average properties of different classes of lard in relation to physical and optical conditions are shown in the following table:

The above table is the average composition of nineteen samples of lard furnished under affidavits of purity and which appear from their chemical and physical properties to be composed purely of the fat of swine taken from those parts of the animal usually devoted to lard making. The average data may be regarded as representing the properties of the ordinary pure commercial lard on the market.

Average Properties of Steam Lard.

—Below is given the average composition of eleven samples of steam lard furnished under affidavit and, apparently, as judged by their chemical and physical properties, composed solely of the fat of swine. Steam lards are not of as high a quality as the lards contained in the preceding table. They have usually a distinctively strong odor, quite different from that of lards which are rendered in open kettles at low temperature and from selected portions of fat.

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Properties of Adulterated Lards.

—It is possible to mix together the different materials used in making adulterated lard in such a manner as to produce a compound which in some respects resembles the natural product. This compound, however, necessarily differs from the natural product in its physical and microscopic properties and in its reaction with various chemicals which give distinct color with the different fats and oils used as adulterants. The mean properties of thirteen samples of mixed or compound lards are shown in the following table:

These lards, in addition to the above properties, show distinct color reaction with sulfuric and nitric acid and with the reagents which are distinctive of cottonseed oil. They are mostly mixtures of lard and tallow stearin with cotton oil or cotton oil stearin.

In addition to the adulterations already mentioned as mixing with cottonseed oil may be added the use of coconut oil. It is not probable that in the United States any adulteration of lard with coconut oil has been made for commercial purposes. Such an adulteration, however, is practiced in some foreign countries. Coconut oil contains considerable quantities of volatile acid, and, therefore, when used as an adulterant of lard, would increase the normal quantity of volatile acid materially. One sample examined by Allen, of England, was found to contain a quantity of coconut oil, amounting to 33 percent.

Summary.

—In the preceding pages has been given a description of the character of lard, the sources from which it is made, the method of its preparation, its chemical and physical properties and the common adulterations to which it is subjected. There is no question of the wholesomeness of the usual fats and oils, or parts thereof, which are used in the sophistication of lards. The adulteration is intended solely for fraudulent purposes, that is, to sell under the name of a higher priced article one of a lower price.

There are many persons who prefer to use vegetable oils and fats as substitutes for lard in all cases. It is only fair to the consumer that the character of a fat and oil, however, for edible purposes be plainly made known to the purchaser. He is then to judge of the propriety or impropriety of using the articles in question. It seems quite certain that the use of vegetable oils and fats will be greatly increased in this country. All hygienists grant that they are at least equally as wholesome as the animal fat and oil. They are certainly less open to suspicion as having been derived from diseased sources. As a rule, they are carefully expressed and properly refined, free from rancidity and from any mechanical or chemical constituents which render them[77] unpalatable or unwholesome. They are generally much cheaper, perhaps the only exception being that of olive oil. These vegetable oils, as a rule, are excellent for salad dressing, for frying and general cooking purposes and for the ordinary uses to which lard and other animal fats are devoted. A proper labeling of all such packages would increase the quantity consumed, restoring confidence to the public in the character of the goods purchased, and prove of mutual benefit to the grower, the manufacturer and the consumer. It must be remembered, however, that there are many people who prefer the animal fats, and so there will probably always be a large field for their use. Such consumers are entitled to secure the pure article, properly prepared from healthy animals and free from rancidity and organic impurities. Lard and other animal fats offered in this way will have a greater vogue, command a greater degree of confidence and secure a larger trade than if sold under conditions engendering suspicion and distrust.

SOUPS.

Classification of Soups.

—The soups which are commonly consumed are divided into two great classes—those of animal and those of vegetable origin. Any liquid or semi-liquid preparation of a meat or vegetable or the two combined which may or may not carry particles of solid substances is classed with these preparations. Soups are generally used at the beginning of a meal, usually at dinner-time, and, as a rule, do not have any very high nutritive value. That they have a useful function cannot be denied, since the introduction of a small quantity of a condimental and slightly nutritive warm liquid into the stomach at the beginning of dinner tends to stimulate the secretive glands of the stomach walls to greater activity and thus to promote digestion. Soup should be regarded pre-eminently as a condimental and not as a nutritive substance.

Preparation of Stock.

—In the making of stock the base of the material, as a rule, is that part of the meat and bone soluble in hot water. The best way of preparing this stock is as follows:

The meat and bones selected should be fresh, free from all impurities and be derived solely from healthy animals as soon as they have been slaughtered. Inasmuch as the shape of the material used is of little consequence the parts of the carcass that are cut away in the preparation of the usual cuts of the marketable meats are utilized for stock making. The flesh should be cut into fragments of proper size and the bones broken up into small pieces. This material with the appropriate amount of water and salt is placed in a vessel capable of being closed in such a way that no aqueous vapor will escape, and a slight degree of pressure, equal to the half of an atmosphere, can be sustained. Simple forms of digesters are made for this purpose which are[78] perfectly safe at low pressure and supplied with a safety valve so as to allow steam to escape if the pressure runs too high. Several hours of digestion are necessary for the preparation of stock, and if an ordinary vessel is used care must be exercised that the liquid does not evaporate so as to make the mass dry. Stirring from time to time assists the solution of the soluble substances. After the extraction is complete the liquid contents are poured off and the solid material pressed gently to separate the liquid held in solution. The mass is then put in a cool place and allowed to stand until thoroughly cooled and all the fat particles are collected at the top. The fat is then removed and the resulting liquid strained to remove any solid particles. The clear solution thus obtained is set aside and used as stock in the preparation of the various forms of soups. When properly flavored and used by itself it produces the soup known as consommé.

The soup stock made in this way usually contains not less than 95 percent of water and not more than 5 percent of nutritive matter. Many of the clear soups prepared in this way contain very much less nutritive matter, sometimes as low as one percent. It is evident, therefore, that the soup stock is valuable as a condiment and flavoring and not as a food.

The number of soups which can be made from soup stock is practically unlimited. They are formed by the admixture, chiefly of vegetables cut into small pieces, of starchy materials, mashed peas or beans, particles of potato, fragments of parched bread, and in fact almost any nutritive and palatable substance which the cook may wish to employ.

A soup made from a stock of the above description with pea flour was found to have the following composition:

A soup made with potatoes from stock of the above description was found to have the following composition:

The French make soups which are very well known and highly valued by cutting vegetables, such as carrots, beets, radishes and other vegetable substances, into small pieces and adding them to the soup stock.

Oyster Soup.

—A soup made of milk, cream, flour, condiments, oysters and the liquid of oysters is very largely eaten in the United States. The difference[79] between oyster soup and oyster stew is chiefly in the amount of oysters employed.

Green Turtle Soup.

—A soup stock prepared as above described and flavored with pieces of green turtle is a very common dish.

Mock Turtle Soup.

—A soup made in imitation of a turtle soup in which veal takes the place of turtle for flavoring is known as mock turtle soup.

Clam Soup or Clam Chowder.

—This is a soup made of clams in the same way that oyster soup is made. When the clams are cut into small pieces and are in great abundance and when potatoes are used in large quantities in the mixture it is known as clam chowder.

Beef Extract.

—It is evident that a beef extract is only a soup or a soup stock specially prepared from beef. Beef extract first became known by the researches of the celebrated chemist Liebig, and has passed from a mere local preparation to an article which is important in commerce. Factories have been established in localities far removed from the principal markets of the world, but where cattle are extremely plentiful, as in South America, and the preparation of beef extract is carried on on a large scale, the meat of the animal being thrown away after the preparation of the extract. The method of preparing beef extract is practically that described for making a soup stock under pressure. Instead of using only the trimmings and refuse of the animal, however, usually the whole of the flesh is employed. The bones are sometimes used in the making of a beef extract. The sound, fresh meat is cut into small pieces and extracted under pressure as already described. After cooking and filtering the product it is brought, in vacuo, to a proper consistence. Meat extract is, therefore, simply a concentrated soup stock. It requires about thirty-four pounds of meat to yield one pound of concentrated extract, and this extract may be diluted for consumption so as to make from six to seven gallons of beef tea. The composition of the ordinary beef extract of commerce shows that it contains from 15 to 20 percent of moisture, from 17 to 23 percent of ash and from 50 to 60 percent of meat bases, that is, the soluble nitrogenous contents of meat. The bones and tendons are not used in making beef extract on account of the introduction of considerable quantities of gelatine into the material. Liebig does not recommend the presence of gelatine in beef extract because, being cheaper in quality, it is an adulteration of the genuine article, which should contain only the pure bases and not the gelatinous principle of the meat in the tendons and bones.

Character of Nitrogenous Bodies in Beef Extract.

—When beef extract is prepared according to the Liebig method those nitrogenous bodies commonly known as meat bases are found in the concentrated extract. In a beef extract which contains a total of 9.28 percent of nitrogen the quantity of nitrogen in the form of nitrogenous compounds which were found therein is as follows: Nitrogen in the form of soluble albumin,—trace; in the form[80] of albumoses,—1.17; in the form of peptone,—trace; in the form of meat bases,—6.81; in the form of ammonia compounds,—.47; in the form of unenumerated compounds,—.83. The chief meat bases which form the principal part of the substance are creatin, creatinin, xanthin, carnin and carnic acid.

There are many different forms of beef extract upon the market, sometimes called by fanciful names and sometimes by the name of the manufacturer. Among the fanciful names are some which indicate origin or kind. The extracts which bear the names of the manufacturers are very numerous, but all of these extracts are essentially of the same character. One of these is a meat extract in which some of the meat fiber is contained. The quantity of meat fiber which is used varies, but is not very great. A comparison of the dry substance in a preparation of the class mentioned above with the dry substance in meat shows the following relation:

The above data show that the extract is essentially different in its composition from dried meat and has added to it a large quantity of meat fiber or the meat rendered soluble by some kind of treatment.

Nutritive Properties.

—It cannot be denied that meat extract, as has been said in the case of soup stock, contains only a small part of nutritive matter. This nutritive substance is in a state of solution and probably is more readily absorbed than a similar amount of other nutritives in the form of ordinary meat. Its chief value as a nutrient, therefore, is not in the amount of nutrient material which it contains, but in the ease and speed with which it may become absorbed into the circulation. In case of illness this is often a very important point. It is not a question so much of the utilization of a large amount of nutrients as the absorption and assimilation in small quantities which will sustain life until the disordered conditions disappear. For these reasons the meat extracts have a value. There is, however, little doubt of the fact that in the popular mind a great deal more credit is given to meat extracts than should properly belong to them. They must be regarded principally as condimental and incident to nutrition rather than as nutritive substances. The claims which are made by the manufacturers are sometimes misleading, as, for instance, that one pound of extract contains the nutritive properties of many pounds of meat. Such a statement, of course, is absurd upon its face and should not be allowed to go unchallenged. Even when meat extracts are reinforced by the addition of soluble or comminuted fiber, as is often the case, the quantity of nourishment is very small as compared with a similar weight of meat itself.

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It is not intended by the above remarks to cast any discredit upon the value of beef extract, as its value has been attested in numerous cases. It is only designed to call attention to the fact that as food these extracts have comparatively little value. They may be useful as stimulants or as condimental substances or as a means of speedily introducing a soluble nutrient in the case of disease where it is extremely important that even small amounts of nutritious material should enter the body.

Beef Juice.

—A distinction is made between a beef extract and a beef juice. The latter term applies solely to the liquid naturally remaining in the fresh meat after its proper preparation for consumption, that is, after the withdrawal of the blood and the proper cooling and storing of the flesh. The fresh meat is then subjected to strong pressure and the juices which are extracted are concentrated in vacuo to the proper consistence. The meat of old bulls is often used. A true beef juice must be extracted from the cold meat and not with the aid of heat, hot water or other solvents. It is difficult to preserve an extract of this kind without sterilization, and the heat required for sterilization is likely to coagulate some of the albuminous material which is expressed. It is a great temptation, therefore, in some cases to preserve the beef juice by a chemical preservative other than common salt. Boric acid and sulfite of soda may be used for this purpose, but these substances are objectionable on the score of possible injury to health. Glycerine is also used. Inasmuch as these juices are usually given to invalids or those whose digestive functions are impaired it is most important that injurious substances should be omitted. In case of pressure it is advisable, in some cases, to chop the meat very fine, and in this comminuted condition extract the juice with cold water. This does not produce any change in the character of the juice and the water is subsequently removed by evaporation at a low temperature in vacuo. Beef juices are usually prepared from heated meats.

Composition of Beef Juice.

—The composition of beef juice from different parts of meat which was previously heated externally is shown in the following table.

COMPOSITION OF BEEF JUICE AND MEAT EXTRACT.

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The above analyses show the general character of meat juice extracted first by externally heating the meat and then pressing. They show that there is less nitrogenous bodies present in meat juice than there is in meat extracts. It is evident that meat extracts cannot be heated for sterilization without coagulation of the globulins. When it is advisable to use a beef juice in a case of illness it is far better to prepare it at the time when it is used than to prepare it on a commercial scale and preserve it by any of the chemical means in vogue. Meat juice can be very well prepared for domestic use by chopping the meat very fine, placing it in a vessel, heating to 140° F., and pressing it by any simple means, as, for instance, with the hand or by using an ordinary lemon squeezer. The juice obtained in this way can be flavored with salt and spices to suit the taste of the patient, and used immediately. In some cases, in order to get a greater yield, pure cold water may be mixed with the chopped meat and a somewhat dilute juice obtained but giving a greater yield of nutritive material for the same weight of meat.

Various names, fanciful and otherwise, are given to the so-called beef juices. These names are either fanciful or, as in the case of beef extracts, that of the manufacturer. Some of the fanciful names are, like those already mentioned, suggestive of origin. Some of these have large quantities of coagulable protein, like albumin, while others have such small quantities as to indicate that they are not wholly beef juice. In the case of some of these preparations there is some indication that they are prepared chiefly from blood and thus are not true meat juices. Naturally there must be particles of blood in a meat juice and the mere occurrence of blood cells would not be an indication that blood itself had been used in its preparation. By reason of these facts the use of so-called meat juices is restricted. They contain relatively very little nutritive material, they are sometimes preserved with harmful chemicals and they may be made from blood, and in general there is such a degree of secrecy attending their preparation as to warrant the physician and patient to confine themselves to the domestic article prepared at the time of using. Another objection which is not of a hygienic character is found in the great expense of securing a very little nourishment by this means. The quantity of juice which meat will yield is very small and, therefore, the relative expense for any given quantity of nourishment is far greater than it is even in the case of beef extract. While in the case of rich patients an objection like this is of little value, in the great majority of cases it should be given due consideration.

Soluble Meats.

—Various attempts have been made to put soluble meats upon the market for use, especially for invalids and in cases of disordered digestion. The principle which underlies the preparation of these meats is to subject them to a certain degree of artificial digestion, by means of which the protein matter becomes converted into soluble forms, either albumose,[83] proteose or peptone. The process which is employed is a simple one, namely, the comminution of the meat into as fine particles as possible and its admixture with hydrochloric acid and pepsin. It is then subjected to artificial digestion until a considerable portion of the meat is soluble. Another method of preparation is to omit the pepsin and after the addition of hydrochloric acid to place the meat in a digestor where it is subjected to a temperature of steam under pressure for a considerable length of time. A goodly proportion of the meat becomes soluble under this process. After the preparation is completed the residual hydrochloric acid is neutralized by carbonate of soda, forming common salt, which gives the proper flavor to the compound.

The composition of soluble meat prepared in this way is given in the following table (Foods and Principles of Dietetics, by Robert Hutchinson):

A meat solution of this kind is not really a solution, since not only is that part which passes into solution contained in it, but also the residual meat fibers which are not dissolved but so softened by the process that they lose their distinct form and can be rubbed up to a thick pasty mass. The product, therefore, consists not only of the part of the meat rendered thoroughly soluble in water by the process, but also of a residual part, softened and reduced to a paste. The mass has practically the same nutritive value as an equivalent amount of meat with the claimed advantage that a large portion of it is already soluble. This partial predigestion may be of value in cases of disease or disordered digestion of any kind, but there is no reason for believing that the healthy stomach requires any sort of artificial predigestion for the proper conduct of its functions. On the other hand, there is every reason for supposing that any kind of predigestion which is at all effective will in the end prove injurious to healthy digestive organs by depriving them of a part of their normal functions and thus tending to bring them to a condition of feebleness which may result in the omission, in part, of the normal functions of the vital organs.

Preparations of Blood.

—There is no doubt of the valuable nutritive properties of blood and its preparations are sometimes used as foods. There is a deep-seated prejudice against the use of blood as human food, doubtless based on older and more effective grounds than even the laws of health promulgated by Moses. Man is an animal of some refinement of character and the sight or use of blood is repugnant to his finer instincts. Sometimes blood is dried and powdered and the blood powder mixed with other food.[84] Another method is to coagulate the blood, then remove the coagulated portion and use the residue for food purposes. This preparation, of course, contains no coagulable portions of blood, that is, the protein thereof known as fibrin. There is no reason for believing that preparations of blood will ever occupy any prominent position in the food supply, either of persons in health or of invalids.

Beef Tea.

—A very common food preparation from beef is that known as beef tea. In all essential particulars beef tea is nothing more than a rich unfiltered soup stock. Inasmuch, however, as it is constantly prescribed in many kinds of illness and is prepared under certain conditions it should be mentioned specially here in addition to the preparations already described. As in the case of meat juice, beef tea should always be prepared in the home, and immediately before using. It is a preparation which can not be properly made and kept without the addition of some preservative which renders it totally unfit for human consumption. The very choicest portion of the beef should be selected in the preparation of beef tea and it should be reduced to a fine state of comminution. The removal of the fat and tendons should be as complete as possible, as particularly the latter tend to add to the extract more of the gelatine-like principles than is desirable. The fragments should be mixed with a sufficient quantity of cold water to make the desired amount of beef tea, usually one pound of water to a pound of comminuted beef is a good proportion. The mixture should be kept cold for a considerable length of time with frequent stirrings in order to extract as much as possible of the nitrogenous matter which becomes coagulated by heating. Salt may be used not only to promote the solubility but also to give the proper taste. After the lapse of an hour or more the vessel may be covered and gradually warmed. During this warming the mass should be frequently stirred so to as promote the solution. When finally the extraction is complete, before the tea is administered it should be cooked, that is, heated to the boiling-point, by which process the soluble protein is coagulated but not hardened, and the material is rendered more palatable. The beef tea should be administered without separating the coagulated fragments of albuminous material, which is in a state easily digestible, and adds much to the nutritive value of the mixture. Finally the residue of beef may be put into a bag and subjected to pressure to remove as much of the juice contained therein as possible. The difference between beef tea and soup stock, as will be seen, is largely in the filtering. The beef tea should retain the coagulated flocks, while in the soup stock they are removed. One pound of good lean beef and one pint of water yield about one-half pound of good beef tea. As in the case of soup stock, beef tea is not a very nutritive substance. It is, however, stimulating, and the nourishment which it contains is quickly absorbed. The soft, coagulated flocks of albumin are readily digested, and often a patient may be nourished for days on a preparation of this kind when he is in[85] a condition which renders it impracticable to use either solid or other liquid foods.

Beef tea is also made on a large commercial scale and with some degree of approximation to the home prepared article. For various reasons, however, which have already been advanced, a well made domestic beef tea which can be used as soon as prepared is to be preferred in all cases to the manufactured article. A beef tea properly made contains approximately the following composition:

Dried and Powdered Meats.

—The preparation of dried meat has already been described. There has lately been placed upon the market a number of preparations dried and finely ground, under various names, fanciful and those of the manufacturer. Inasmuch as ordinary meats are largely composed of water, it is evident that if the water can be removed without impairing the quality of the meat, great expense in transportation would be saved and the use of preservatives would be unnecessary. Various attempts, therefore, have been made to place dried meats upon the market. The meat powders are not only offered in their natural state of desiccation but also are prepared with a more or less previous digestion. One of the most common of these meat powders is known as somatose, which has been made in large quantities, and sold throughout all parts of the world. It consists largely of albumoses rather than of peptones, but this is true of a great many of the so-called peptone preparations. The composition of somatose is represented in the following table (Allen’s Commercial Organic Analyses, Vol. IV, page 384):

The above data show that the meat still contains nearly 15 percent of moisture and that an alkali has been used to render the protein more soluble. This alkali has increased the quantity of mineral matter over that which would naturally be present. Whatever may be the relative value of the prepared protein matter as compared with that in the original meat, it is seen that a large quantity of it, practically as much as was in the original meat, has been preserved in the finished product. Whether or not it is advisable to use a preparation of this kind is a question to be left with the physician. It may be said unhesitatingly that in all cases of health somatose could not possibly present any[86] advantage over fresh meat. On the contrary, for theoretical and practical reasons, it is certain that it is less valuable.

Composition of the Ash of Meat Juice and Meat Broth.

—The principal mineral component of the natural juice of meat broth or meat extract is phosphate of potassium, though there are also small quantities of magnesium and smaller quantities of calcium present. In addition to this there is a certain quantity of common salt present, which is determined, however, largely by the method of preparation. The following analysis shows the composition of the ash of a meat juice to which little or no common salt has been added:

Other constituents are not determined in this analysis. The phosphate of potassium may therefore be regarded as the principal natural ash constituent of meat extract and meat juice. (Zeitschrift für Biologie, Vol. XII, 1876.)

Adulteration of Meat Extract.

—The principal adulterations of meat extract have already been mentioned. The substances used in preserving it are of the greatest hygienic consequence. These are chiefly salt and glycerol or alcohol. The use of all of these substances is reprehensible. Fortunately they are seldom used. Another adulteration which has been practiced is mixing the meat extract with extracts of yeast. The extract of yeast has valuable dietetic properties and contains the active principles of fermentation. It also resembles, in many respects, physically and chemically, the extract of meat, and can, therefore, be mixed with meat extract, and, being a cheaper article, forms a mixture which can be sold at a greater profit. The presence of yeast extract in meat extract can easily be determined by treating the mixture with a strong solution of sulfate of zinc and filtering. In meat extract the filtrate obtained is always quite clear, but when a yeast extract is present the filtrate is turbid.

Active Principles Contained in Meat Extract.

—Attention has already been called to some of the more important active principles, namely, meat bases which form a valuable portion of meat extract. There are various forms of nitrogenous bodies, however, besides meat bases, which become soluble naturally in meat or by the treatment of meat with digestive ferments. Lean meat, as is well known, consists almost exclusively of protein matter and water. This protein matter is principally insoluble. Under the action of digestive ferments the protein of meat becomes broken up into more soluble bodies, known as albumoses, proteoses and peptones,—the latter being the final product of solution. These bodies are still true protein bodies containing the elements of sulfur as one of their essential constituents. The meat bases, on[87] the contrary, contain the other elements that are in protein but do not have the sulfur element. They belong to that class of bodies which is known as simple amido compounds. All of these bodies are mixed together in meat juice or beef extract, and it is an important task of the chemist to separate them, both from an analytical point of view and the determination of their relative abundance. There is also another soluble or semisoluble protein substance in these extracts derived from the tendinous tissues and bones, namely, the gelatine or glue. This is quite a common product, being the soluble protein procured by the digestion of the tendons and bones. It is important, therefore, that the chemist should distinguish between the gelatine and the amido bodies. There is also a true and a false protein form of these soluble bodies, the true one being formed by natural proteolytic ferments and the false one being formed by heat or digestion under pressure of steam. The chemist should also be able to distinguish between the true extract formed directly from the meat and the yeast extract used as an adulteration.

It is not the purpose of this manual to enter into the details of how these different bodies may be distinguished from one another, as that is purely a chemical study. It is due, however, to the general reader that some explanation be given of the different classes of bodies which are contained in these extracts.

Relation between the Price of an Extract and its Nutritive Value.

—The studies made in the Bureau of Chemistry show that there is little relation between the price of a beef extract and its real nutritive value. In three cases of extract which are all well known brands and are of the thick or pasty variety, showing that a dissolved meat had been added to them, the average weight of a package costing 45 cents was only 55 grams, or nearly a cent a gram. In another three samples of extract, also well known brands, of the same pasty variety and costing little more per package, it was found that the weight of the more expensive variety was double that of the first, costing only one-half cent per gram. In the case of the liquid extracts where no pasty material is incorporated there is still greater variation in the relation of the price to the nutritive constituents. An extract which retails for one dollar per bottle contains 91.69 percent of water and only .42 percent of nitrogen. Another so-called meat extract which retails at 60 cents per bottle must have been wholly an artificial product, since it contained no creatin or creatinin at all. It was also preserved by the addition of alcohol and contained an artificial coloring matter.

The ash existing in these extracts is, of course, usually due to the presence of large quantities of common salt. Sodium chlorid is added to this extract without any definite rule at all and sometimes in very excessive quantities. In some cases thirty percent of the total extract is composed of common salt. In other words, a person taking a solution of this kind would be injecting into his stomach a very concentrated brine. When common salt may[88] be sold at the rate of one dollar per pound, the profit on the transaction is one which ought to make the business exceedingly attractive.

The total phosphoric acid in the ash also shows variations, and if it were not so easy to add artificial phosphoric acid the actual amount present might be taken as a base by which quality could be judged. In the natural extract the total phosphoric acid should be in the proportion to organic phosphoric acid as 10 to 1, which is the natural condition in which it is found in meat extract. In many cases the amount of inorganic phosphorus is so great as to render it certain that a phosphate, probably the phosphate of soda, has been added. In another case the quantity of organic phosphoric acid was very much greater than could have possibly been the case in a natural product, indicating the addition of lecithin or glycerophosphoric acid. The amount of fat in beef extract, when properly prepared, should be very small and should certainly not exceed one percent, since by the proper method of preparation the fat is largely separated. In the pasty material, however, where the meat is reduced to a pulp and retained in the package the amount of fat will be very much greater.

The Nitrogenous Bases.

—The average nitrogen content of the pasty or solid extracts varies from 6 to 9 percent. The nitrogen in the meat juice is subject to much greater fluctuation, depending largely on the content of solids. Although a high nitrogen content is not a guarantee of the character or mode of manufacture of an extract, it is naturally expected and is desirable.

The addition of gelatine to extracts is now largely practiced and has been for some years. By adding gelatine the manufacturer raises or maintains a certain nitrogen content, but supplies the nitrogen in a form lacking in all quickly stimulating qualities, and the natural flavor of the meat extract nitrogen is lowered. The buyer is consequently deprived of the characteristic essentials of a beef extract although the nitrogen content is relatively high. In many cases only a small proportion of the original gelatine exists in the extract as such. The gelatine is converted by a gradual process of hydration into gelatoses and gelatine peptones. While the separation of gelatine from protein matter is a process in anything but a satisfactory condition, it is a far simpler process than the detection and separation of gelatoses and gelatine peptones from albuminoses and peptones. The question has not been thoroughly studied up to date.

The question of adulteration of meat extracts with gelatine is not the only form of adulteration we have to face. The mixing of varying amounts of yeast extract with meat extracts is being practiced at the present time in some countries. As we have not investigated this question, we cannot state whether it is practiced in this country at the present time or not.

Kinds of Preparations.

—Meat preparations of the above types in general may be divided into three classes, liquid extracts, pasty extracts and powdered extracts. In addition to the above, within the last few years beef extract pellets, some of them being enclosed in gelatine capsules, have appeared[89] upon the market. The old-time product of Liebig’s extract belongs to the second class, in which we also find many of our best known brands. The liquid extracts are varied and numerous and their number is rapidly increasing. The amount of meat extractives in some of these liquid products is remarkably small, the quantity of solids in two or three cases being under 10 percent. Alcohol is sometimes met with in these liquid preparations. The meat powders are far less numerous than the extracts of the first two classes. They consist largely, if not entirely, of albuminoses and peptones in addition to some insoluble proteid matter.

Moreover, it is necessary to distinguish between a meat extract containing large amounts of stimulating amido-acids and relatively small percentages of albuminoses, peptones and insoluble proteid matter on the one hand, and, on the other hand, an extract, or, more properly, a meat product, which consists largely of albuminoses, peptones and insoluble matter and relatively small amounts of amido-acids. The food value of this last group of products is undoubtedly greater than that of the former group, but being sold as meat extracts, their value should be based on the amount of extractives they contain and not on their food value.

The value of the amido-bodies, such as the meat bases, as food, is of uncertain character, but we must admit, as in the case of alcohol, they can at least be burned and furnish energy to the body. Like alcohol, the value of meat extractives lies principally in their stimulating qualities. The active principles of tea and coffee are on a similar basis. As these simpler amido-bodies are the final links in the long chain of hydrolytic products of the proteid molecule prior to the complete resolution of that molecule into carbon dioxid, water, etc., it is readily seen that an ounce of meat extractives (the various amido-bodies) represents a far larger amount of beef than an ounce of albuminoses does. The various protein bodies and amido-acids are closely interwoven and it is impossible to produce amido-acids without producing albuminoses and peptones. Consequently, every commercial meat extract must consist partly of albuminoses, peptones, etc. The best of our extracts on the market to-day contain about 50 percent of their total nitrogen in the form of meat base nitrogen. When an extract contains less than 5 percent of its nitrogen in the form of meat base nitrogen the term “extract” seems to be no longer applicable. It is evident that the product represents much less meat than an extract with 50 percent of its nitrogen in the form of meat base nitrogen, provided the total nitrogen in both cases is approximately equal.

The proteid matter coagulated by heating to boiling, as well as the proteid matter insoluble in cold water, are both undesirable factors in an extract of meat. As a rule, the lower the proportion of these constituents, the higher the character of the meat extract. The same thing holds true in regard to the presence of albuminoses and peptones.

[90]

The quantity of total nitrogen in the form of meat base nitrogen in the best extracts reaches 50 percent. In one of the poorest it is 3.82 percent. The food value of the latter product might be greater than that of the former, but its cost of manufacture and its stimulating value are much less.

Creatin figures are very interesting and of much value in determining the source and value of an extract. Creatin is the principal amido-body found in meat, consequently we expect to find it or creatinin, its hydrated form, in still larger quantities in meat extracts. In several cases which came under our notice where the extract acted suspiciously, the creatin values were nil, and in such cases grave doubts exist as to the source of the extract. Our best extracts give high creatin as well as high meat base figures.

The xanthin bases and ammonia nitrogen figures present a variety of problems. While the xanthin bases are desirable constituents, ammonia in any amount is not. It is questionable whether the ammonia figures obtained by the magnesium oxid method do not give too high results (W. D. Bigelow).

Gelatine.

—Gelatine is a substance obtained from the nitrogenous portions of bones, hide, horns, hoofs, connective tissue, tendons and other nitrogenous matter of the animal. One of the principal constituents of these bodies is a substance known as collagen. When this is heated either under pressure or without pressure it is changed to gelatine. Glue is unrefined gelatine or impure gelatine to which usually some substance has been added to increase its holding power. A type of gelatine known as isinglass is made from the bladders of sturgeons.

The general process of manufacturing gelatine is as follows (Whipple, Technology Quarterly, Vol. XV, No. 2, June, 1902):

“The hide scraps are first macerated and subjected to the action of a solution of lime or caustic soda in pits for two or three weeks. This dissolves most of the blood and saponifies the fats. The excess of lime or soda is then largely removed by washing and the solution steamed to dissolve the gelatine, but an excess of heat is avoided. Sulfurous acid is used to bleach the gelatine. When of sufficient strength, the gelatine is allowed to harden in molds or on slabs, and is ultimately dried in sheets on wire nets. Bone gelatine is made in a somewhat similar manner. The bones are crushed, boiled, treated with hydrochloric acid, and the gelatine is dissolved as before, washed, bleached and dried in sheets. The process requires a number of weeks.”

Gelatine is also made from bones, fresh as well as old, and from the residues of bones used in the manufacture of buttons. The thin slices of the bones are treated with acid until all the phosphate of lime is extracted. They are then treated with lime and the gelatinous residue is then dissolved in warm water and purified for use.

The use of gelatine as a food has of late years become very common. The ease with which it can be made into jellies, the consistence which[91] it gives to ice-cream and its general utility in the cuisine have made it deservedly popular. Gelatine is the product of some of the nitrogenous parts of the animal and should be made only from the edible parts thereof. It is particularly abundant in the tendinous portions of the animal and in the tissues about the head, from which a large part of edible gelatine is made. No portion of the animal which is filthy or unfit for food should ever enter into the composition of the gelatine. If the parts from which the gelatine are made are cured previous to manufacture they should be cured in a perfectly sanitary way, as carefully as any other part of the meat. There can be no objection to the use of gelatine made from these sanitary materials in foods of all kinds.

There is, however, a possibility that some of the gelatines on the market may be made from materials wholly unfit for food. The food law forbids the use of animal substances unfit for food either directly or indirectly. As an illustration of this condition of affairs I may call attention to the fact that a part of the gelatines sold in the United States are made from parts of animals slaughtered in South America. It is not known to the consumer in what conditions these parts are preserved and transported. They may be possibly packed with the hide and sent to Belgium or other countries in a filthy, putrid and abhorrent state and these parts be cut from the hides before they are sent to the tanneries and converted into gelatine and sold as edible gelatine. Such a possibility should not exist, and there is no danger of its existence with high class manufacturers. A part of the horns is also used for such purposes, which being of an inedible portion and unfit for food is not admissible, under the law, as a constituent of edible gelatine. All such materials should be excluded in the manufacture of such an important product. Further than this, it may be stated that the line of demarcation between gelatine and glue is not always as well drawn as it should be, and this is illustrated in the report that the gelatine and glue are manufactured in the same factory, and the same conditions of odor and insanitation which adhere to glue may attach themselves to the gelatine. Such a condition, of course, would be an exceptional case, but its possibility should be excluded. Under the food law only those forms of gelatine first described above can be legally made and sold for use in food.

Adulteration of Gelatine.

—The adulterations of gelatine are such as those referred to above in the form of raw materials employed which are insanitary and unfit for food. In addition to this, bleaching agents, namely, sulfurous acid or sulfites and mineral acids, are often employed in the manufacture, portions of which may remain in the finished article. All of these substances must be regarded as adulterants and as insanitary and unsuitable to gelatine, and to that extent unfit for human consumption.

Presence of Tetanus in Commercial Gelatine.

—The Public Health and Marine Hospital Service has investigated gelatine to determine whether or[92] not it may be infected with pathogenic germs. The conclusions of the investigation are as follows (Bulletin No. 9, Hygienic Laboratory):

“Seven samples of gelatine examined; one showed tetanus spores.

“Two samples showed an oval end-spore rod, whose identity was not proved, but, in stained specimens, it would be hard to distinguish from tetanus, if indeed not tetanus with diminished virulence.

“In tetanus investigations it is important to use freshly made bouillon, as the organism is apt not to germinate in bouillon over ten days old. The thermal death point of the organism isolated was found to be between twenty and thirty seconds at 100 degrees C.

“It is important, therefore, that gelatine to be used for injections should be boiled at least ten minutes on account of the variability of the thermal death point in different species of tetanus. Whether this amount of heating impairs in any way the hemostatic power of gelatine has not been settled, but in case it does it is believed that the danger from tetanus more than overbalances its therapeutic value.

“It is suggested that when, as in hospitals, there is likelihood of gelatine injections being used for hemostatic purposes the gelatine solution be sterilized by the fractional method on three successive days and kept ready for use in sterile containers.”

From the data given above it is seen that gelatine may become infected and the material from which it is made for edible purposes should be healthful, sanitary and fit for food. It is not likely that tetanus germs would prove dangerous when taken into the stomach, but freedom from infection should be secured if possible. These investigations show the wisdom of the pure food law in forbidding the use of parts of animals unfit for food, whether manufactured or not, in the production of food products. It is evident that a sufficient quantity of fresh, sanitary material or material properly preserved can be obtained in this country or in other countries to supply the needs for edible gelatine without resorting to the use of inedible parts of hides, horns, hoofs and other waste and unfit portions of the animal.

Summary.

—Above have been presented some of the principal meat foods, the analytical data which show their composition, the processes by means of which they are prepared and the principal methods, objectionable and otherwise, by which they are preserved.

Meat is a staple article of diet among almost all nations of men. The anatomical structure of the human animal indicates that his environment has adapted him to eating meats of all kinds. In other words, man is an omnivorous animal. He has been developed in an environment in which all kinds of meats and vegetables have ministered to his sustenance, and thus he is an omnivorous animal both by evolution and necessarily by heredity. That man can live and flourish without meat has been fully established by[93] experiments, but that man cannot be nourished by meat alone has likewise been fully established, so that if the human race were necessarily to be deprived either of animal or vegetable foods, it would be the animal food which must be sacrificed.

It is not the purpose of this manual to discuss the relative merits of vegetarianism as compared with the common diet of the human race. It may not be amiss, however, to say that probably in the United States especially, a larger quantity of meat is eaten than is either necessary or wholesome. The people of our country are better able to supply themselves with expensive foods than those of other countries, and of the common foods meats are far more expensive than cereals. The eating of larger quantities of cereals and smaller quantities of meat would probably be conducive both to economy and health. It appears to be certain that the meat eating of the future may not be regarded so much as a necessity as it has in the past, but that meats will be used more as condimental substances than as staple foods. In all meat, for instance, that costs 25 cents a pound, such as steaks, there is over one-third or a half of it which is inedible, so that the edible portion really costs double that amount. On the contrary, when a pound of flour or maize is purchased, the price of which is perhaps only one-eighth that of meat, the whole of it is edible. Thus, from the mere point of economy as well as of nutrition the superiority of cereals and other vegetable products is at once evident. On the one hand, a cereal is almost a complete food containing all the elements necessary to nutrition, and it costs only a few cents a pound. On the other hand, a steak or roast is only a partial food and it costs much more than cereals.

It is hoped that one purpose of this manual may be secured, namely, by showing the consumer the actual composition of the different kinds of food and their method of preparation he may be led in the selection of his food to follow the dictates of science and economy to a certain extent rather than merely the impulse of taste. The eating of such large quantities of meat is merely a habit which often is developed in children through the carelessness and ignorance of parents, much to the detriment of the child as well as to his future health and activity. It is believed that if the true principles of the use of meat were properly inculcated a large saving in the energy of the wage earner as well as those in more affluent circumstances would be secured.

Sound principles of economy establish a better condition of health and lead to greater activity and fruitful labor.

Terrestrial Animal Oils.

Terrestrial animal oils are obtained directly from parts of the animals which yield, at ordinary temperature, a substance which remains liquid. The fats which are in the feet of the animals are usually more liquid than in any other part of the body, and hence the natural animal oils are derived[94] largely from the feet. Among the most important are sheep’s foot oil, horse foot oil, and neat’s foot oil, which is obtained from the feet of cattle. These oils are all highly valued for technical purposes, especially for lubricating, and for this purpose bring a very high price. They are not used or should not be used for edible purposes, though they perhaps may sometimes be used in cooking. Neat’s foot oil, especially, on account of its high price, is often subjected to adulteration, and is mixed for this purpose with cheap vegetable oils, such as cottonseed. Fish oil is also often used in the adulteration of neat’s foot oil, though the addition of any of these oils to neat’s foot oil raises the iodin number to a very high degree, and hence this addition is easily detected by the chemist.

Lard Oil.

—Lard oil is one of the most important of terrestrial animal oils. It is made from lard by melting it and allowing it to slowly cool. The stearin in the product crystallizes first, and when it reaches a condition favoring the separation of the stearin the mass is subjected to straining or pressure, whereby the olein or liquid portion of the oil is separated, and thus, having been freed from the most of its stearin, remains liquid at ordinary temperature. The residue is known as lard stearin and is largely employed in the preparation of lard to give it a higher melting point and in the manufacture of oleomargarine.

Lard oil is used to some extent for edible purposes and is itself sometimes employed in the manufacture of oleomargarine when mixed with tallow or tallow stearin.

Properties of Lard Oil.

—It is evident that the chemical and physical properties of lard oil are determined by the completeness with which the stearin is separated. Inasmuch, however, as the conditions of manufacture are nearly constant, lard oil has characteristics of a physical and chemical nature which do not vary greatly. The specific gravity of lard oil at 15 degrees is about .916, and its iodin number varies from 68 to 75. When made of the best material it has a neutral taste, not an unpleasant odor, and, therefore, can be used for edible purposes without introducing any characteristic odor or flavor into the prepared food. In point of fact, however, it is not used to any extent for edible purposes except in the manufactured articles above mentioned. When carefully made and of the proper quality pure lard oil should be practically free from free acid.

Adulterations.

—On account of the high value of lard oil for lubricating and other purposes it has been subjected to extensive adulterations. The addition of cheaper animal oils or vegetable oils has been largely practiced. Fish oil, blubber oil, and other marine animal oils have also been freely used in the adulteration of lard oil whenever the difference in price has rendered it advisable. These adulterations are of such a character that they can be detected only by the skilled microscopist and chemist. The other animal oils, both of marine and terrestrial origin, while important from a technical point of view, are of no significance in respect of edible qualities.

Application of Name.

—The term poultry for descriptive purposes may be applied to those classes of feathered domesticated birds used for human food. It, therefore, includes practically all of the domesticated fowls. The term game bird, for the purpose of this manual, is applied to feathered animals which are wild and which are used for human food. This also may apply to almost all wild birds, since at times they practically all have been used for food purposes. Here only those in common use, both domesticated and wild, will be referred to. In connection with poultry the eggs of the birds will be considered.

DOMESTICATED FOWLS.

The principal domesticated fowls which are used for human food are chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, and guinea hens. The most common of all is the chicken,—the next perhaps are turkeys in this country and the goose in Europe. The others are more infrequently used but are highly prized.

Chicken.

—The chicken scientifically is known as Gallus domesticus. For food purposes the chicken is eaten at various ages. The very young chicken is commonly called a broiler and is prepared for the table at varying ages from six to twelve weeks. Young chickens are also very commonly called spring chickens, since they occur in greater abundance in the spring than at any other time. Since the introduction of the modern method of incubation, however, the spring chicken may be had at all seasons of the year. The “broiler” and “spring chicken” may be regarded as synonymous terms, though the larger chicks are usually called spring chickens instead of broilers.

Full Grown Chickens.

—The full grown chicken is better suited for food when still young. The flesh loses flavor and gains in toughness as the chicken grows older. There is no legal limit fixing the division of chickens into different classes with respect to age and the only criterion is the price and taste of the consumer. There is, perhaps, no objection to the use of old chickens for food purposes, provided they are not sold fraudulently as young chicks. The size and toughness of the pieces one often secures when ordering spring chicken is an indication that the age limit is not very definitely established. Both hens[96] and roosters are used for food purposes, but especially the young roosters are devoted to food purposes while the young hens are often kept for the production of eggs.

Preparation of Chickens for Food Purposes.

—In former times, when the chickens of commerce were derived chiefly from the farm, no special preparation was made before the chicken was marketed. The eggs were hatched in the old-fashioned way by the hens and the chicks sold to hucksters or in market, at various ages and without any special preparation or control. All this has been changed in later times by the introduction of scientific methods of breeding poultry. It has been demonstrated that the breeding and care of poultry require as much scientific and economic attention as is devoted to any other successful business.

Fig. 12.—Chicken House, Rhode Island Experiment Station.

The Incubator.

—The introduction of the incubator for the hatching of eggs with the other necessary arrangements for the caring for young chicks has perhaps done more than any other one thing to revolutionize the method of preparing poultry for the market. By the use of the incubator the hatching of chicks is regulated with the utmost degree of nicety. A larger percentage of eggs produce chicks and the expense of the incubating process is greatly diminished. The incubator is in its widest significance a thermostat in which the eggs may be placed and maintained constantly at the temperature of the hen’s body, namely, about 102 degrees F. The arrangement of the chicken house and the other environments of the young chick are shown in Fig. 12.

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Care of Young Chicks.

—The principal points in the care of young chicks are fresh air, freedom from infection by epidemic or contagious diseases, exclusion of insect pests, even high temperature, and abundance of food. The young chick is especially sensitive to low temperatures and must be protected from cold, especially from cold rains. For this reason the chicks, after hatching, must be kept, if it is not summer time, in a room where the temperature can be regulated until they have acquired some degree of strength and vitality. The temperature of the chicken house for the young birds should not be lower than 85 or 90 degrees F.

A temperature of about 102 degrees F. is found very favorable to the development of the chicks in the eggs, although the temperature may sometimes fall to 101 or rise to 103 degrees F. without materially affecting the results. Experiments show that too low a temperature arrests the development of the chick. On the contrary there seems to be no indication that an increase of heat, up to 103 degrees F., has any tendency to kill the chick in the last stages of development. It is found best in all cases to set the eggs in the incubator as soon after they are laid as possible. Where the age of the egg is not known it should be carefully candled, that is, held up between the eye and a light in order to determine its condition. In old eggs, the yolk, on candling, becomes more or less diffused with the white and such eggs are to be rejected for incubator purposes as they are not likely to produce chickens. The fertility of the egg must also be assured before placing in the incubator. An unfertilized egg is so much loss in the incubator since it might have been used for food purposes, since the egg, for marketable purposes, when fresh is just as good as a fertilized egg. It is an observed fact that the complete fertilization of the egg, that is, the proper union of the male and female germ cells, is not always complete at the time the egg is laid, but the mingling of the two elements takes place under proper conditions afterwards. The development will also depend upon the vitality of the germ and its component parts. Just, for instance, as the color of the feathers, the size of the body and the general character of the chick may be inherited from either parent, so the vital qualities are much more strongly shown in some eggs than in others. The proper germination of the egg may also be improved by many of the conditions of environment. In the case of eggs, any slight change which would interfere with the functions of the yolk or albumin, both of which are extremely sensitive to change, would interfere with the growth of the embryo either by depriving it of food or subjecting it to other conditions in which its vitality would be diminished or destroyed. The fertilized egg may be separated from the non-fertilized also by candling. At the Rhode Island station it is found that a very good light for candling is the ordinary calcium carbide bicycle lamp, placed in a proper candling box. This is a strong white light quite equal in power to the electric incandescent light and is not so trying to the eyes.

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When eggs which have been submitted to incubation permit light to shine through and show the yolk suspended in the upper half of the center as a clearly defined mass, which quickly reassumes its position in turning the egg with its long axis nearly horizontal, they are probably infertile or sterile. When, on the contrary, the yolk assumes indefinite outlines, approaching near the upper portion of the shell at the large end or appears with a thick spur upon its upper side, it may be regarded as having started to incubate. In the later stages the embryo can be plainly seen, because it becomes opaque and cuts off more of the light. In the incubation of eggs the candling is resorted to during the first few days of the experiment in order that the unfertilized eggs may be separated. The best time for the candling, if it is practiced only once, is on the sixth or seventh day of incubation. By that time all the eggs which are fertilized will be so changed as to be easily recognized by the candling process. Experience has shown that eggs which are more than two weeks old are not profitable for use in incubators since the percentage that does not hatch is so large. The incubating part of the plant is sometimes placed in the cellar over which the brooding house is built.

The brooding of young chicks is of the utmost significance. In Europe the changes in temperature are much less violent than in this country. The principal brooding houses in the United States are in the North where the temperature often falls in winter to below zero while in the summer it may rise to blood heat, a difference of over 100 degrees F. For this reason the incubating houses in the United States are often placed in cellars where the uniform conditions of temperature are more easily secured. There is no objection to this location provided proper care be taken to secure ventilation and the proper content of moisture in the atmosphere. In Great Britain the incubating houses are usually placed above ground instead of in cellars. The mean range of temperature in an incubating room in Great Britain, from March 12, 1903, to March 30, 1904, was 10 degrees. The highest temperature registered was 70 degrees on the 24th of June and the lowest 42 degrees in January. The humidity of the air was also quite constant, the lowest degree of humidity being 59 and the highest 94. These data show a very even temperature in the room itself. Of course the temperature in the incubator is necessarily greater, being that already referred to, namely 102 degrees.

Early Market.

—One principal object in the raising of chicks is to force them to an early maturity in so far as size and palatability are concerned. The sooner the young broilers can be made ready for the market the more economy there is in their production. To this end they ought to receive a more abundant and specially prepared kind of food than if they were intended for ordinary farm purposes. In other words, the forcing process should be pushed as far as possible without interfering with the health and normal functions of the bird. Foods which are nutritious and stimulating and promote vigorous[99] growth should be employed. Birds prepared in this way for the market are extremely tender and palatable and bring the highest prices where their merits are recognized.

Artificial Feeding.

—Where chickens of greater age are prepared for the market they are subjected, during the last two or three weeks previous to sale, to a forcing process in order to produce more fat and make their flesh more palatable. To this end the chickens are fed from time to time mechanically by passing a tube into the craw and forcing the food therein. Fowls prepared in this way bring high prices in the market and the largest profits to the growers. It is a method, however, which is not used in the raising of the ordinary poultry found on the market.

Preparing Chickens for the Market.

—Chickens are sold in four different conditions in the markets of this country. First, they are offered alive. A great many purchasers prefer to get their poultry in this way because they can then be certain that it has not been long killed and kept in cold storage or preserved by means of chemicals. It is a very common custom for consumers to have their own chicken coups and buy a number of birds at a time and fatten them particularly for their own use. Under the present system of law this method is highly to be commended as a certain way of knowing the age of the poultry consumed. With proper municipal and state regulations of the markets it would not be necessary for the consumer to go to this trouble since when rigid inspection and certification are established, the age of the chicken offered on the market can be easily ascertained. Until such time comes, however, on the part of the consumer, the desirability of securing chickens alive cannot be denied.

Freshly Killed Chickens.

—Chickens which have been killed within twenty-four or forty-eight hours and properly kept may be regarded as freshly killed. There is a very wide-spread opinion, and probably founded on reliable experiments, that fowls are better if they are kept some time after slaughter, provided they are kept in a proper way. In the winter time it is customary, especially in Europe, to hang the fowl for a week or ten days exposed to the ordinary temperature, before consumption. This, of course, is a practice which could not be indulged in in warm weather. Fowls, however, can be hung in cold storage even in the summer time and with the same advantage which accrues by hanging them in ordinary temperature in the winter time. Just how long fowls should be kept after slaughter in this way in order to secure a maximum degree of palatability has not been scientifically determined. There is evidently a limit beyond which the keeping of slaughtered fowls should not be indulged in. If a low and even temperature could be secured it may be certain that the hanging of the fowl for a week or ten days is not too long. The temperature, however, should not be much above the freezing point.

Freshly killed chickens are offered in two forms, namely, drawn and undrawn.[100] The proper method of keeping a slaughtered chicken has been the subject of very lively discussions. There are many who are advocates of the exposure of the chicken in the undrawn state asserting that in this condition it is less exposed to infection and keeps better during the necessary time elapsing between slaughter and consumption. This argument is advanced chiefly by dealers. On the other hand the consumer, as a rule, is in favor of having the chicken drawn before it is exposed for sale, that is, as soon as it is slaughtered. There is perhaps much to be said on both sides of this question. If, however, chickens are to be secured by the consumer within forty-eight hours after slaughter there can be no very great danger of infection by having them undrawn. The subject is one of sufficient importance to warrant an extended scientific investigation and upon this investigation the municipal and state regulations for the sale of poultry can be based. It is not wise in such cases to be swayed solely by prejudice or sentiment but rather by the facts which can be ascertained by unbiased scientific investigation. Because a chicken weighs more undrawn is probably one of the reasons why dealers prefer them in this state. It may be said, too, that the intestinal organs are so impenetrable to the diffusion of their contents as not to create any danger of contamination by remaining in the undrawn state. On the contrary, the keeping of chickens with the intestinal contents undisturbed does not appeal to the imagination of the consumer any more than the freezing of the carcass of a beef or hog with the viscera remaining would appeal to the consumer. If the carcass of a chicken can be better kept undrawn it is evident that the carcass of a steer or hog can also be better kept if subjected to the proper temperature. Upon the whole it appears that the safer way would be to have the poultry drawn at the time of slaughter and delivered to the consumer at an early date thereafter. In this way all danger of infection on the cut surfaces becomes avoided. At any rate the consumer should be allowed the choice in the matter which, at the present time, is not the case in many parts of this country where only undrawn poultry is exposed for sale.

Poultry in Cold Storage.

—Whenever a fowl is kept for a longer period than the week or ten days above referred to for the purpose of improving its flavor and palatability it is necessary that it be placed in cold storage. This method of keeping poultry or other foods is wholly unobjectionable unless carried to excess. Poultry is a food product which under the present scientific methods of production can be furnished in a fresh state all the year. The necessity for cold storage, therefore, is not so apparent in this case as in that of fruit and other perishable foods. It appears then that cold storage only should be extended to that limit necessary to secure its delivery to the consumer. There can scarcely be any excuse for the placing of poultry in cold storage at certain seasons of the year when they are slightly less in price by reason of the abundant production than at other seasons. The methods of producing poultry are such[101] at the present time that this excess in supply can easily be avoided on the part of the producer and thus maintain an even price and an even supply the year round. The producer as well as the consumer is benefited by such a condition. The necessity, often, for cold storage in the limited sense above referred to is acknowledged by all and a reasonable degree of time in cold storage cannot be regarded as in any way measurably harmful with reference to the character of the product. It is probable that as long as four or six months may be regarded as a justifiable limit for securing a proper market for poultry in cold storage though the exact length of time in which it may be left in cold storage will be determined only by careful scientific investigation. There seems to be no necessity whatever for carrying fowls for a longer period and especially, as has been known, for a year or even two years. The deterioration, even if the temperature is far below the freezing point, is very marked during these long periods of time and actual danger may accrue to the consumer in the possible development of poisonous degradation products in the flesh. Municipal, state, and national regulations should be of a character to inform the consumer of the exact length of time which the poultry he proposes to purchase has been in cold storage. This is the least which the consumer has the right to know and is a right which the producer and packer should concede without discussion. The unwillingness which has been manifested on the part of dealers in poultry to make public the length of time which it has been in cold storage is of itself a suspicious condition. The argument is constantly heard that the length of time poultry has been in cold storage does not impair its palatability or wholesomeness. If this be true then a statement of the length of time cannot in any way injure the market. But to this reply is made to the effect that if the consumer is told the fowl has been in cold storage a certain length of time he will not purchase it. To this the evident answer is,—why should you deceive the consumer by selling him an article which if he knew its character he would not buy? It is evident that such deception is nothing more nor less than obtaining money under false pretenses. The remedy for the evil of cold storage is the label which will indicate the length of time which has elapsed since the slaughter of the fowl.

There is, perhaps, no greater blessing which has been conferred upon mankind during the last quarter of a century than the development of cold storage methods of preserving food. The continued prosperity and benefits of this business depend upon a thorough study of the conditions attendant thereon and the elimination of any evil which may be incident thereto. When this is accomplished the absolute confidence which the consumer will have in cold storage will be such that the magnitude of the business will be immensely increased. Thus the interests of the consumer and the dealer are one and they should work together to promote their common good.

Composition of the White Meat of a Chicken.

—The meat of a chicken, carefully prepared in the laboratory of the Bureau of Chemistry, was analyzed by[102] separation into the white and dark portions. The composition of the two meats is as follows:

The above data show that there is a notable difference in the composition of the white and the dark meat. The white meat has much less fat and a correspondingly larger quantity of protein. The quantity of water in the two classes of meat is not very different although there is a slightly less quantity in the dark meat. The dark meat has a much larger proportion of meat bases but as these bases are often considered of little value and sometimes degenerate into poisonous constituents it is seen from this point of view that the white meat is to be preferred to the dark meat.

Preserved Chicken.

—Practically the only methods of preserving chickens are the canning processes which have already been described and cold storage. Chickens may be canned in the same way as has been described for beef and in that way may be kept for a certain length of time without notable deterioration. The pickling of chicken is not very extensively practiced nor is it cured in the ordinary sense of the word, that is, by the addition of salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, and wood smoke. Chicken may also be put up in the form of potted chicken, which has already been described. Practically the only methods which are in vogue and which can be commended for preserving chicken are sterilizing or canning and cold storage. These methods, when not unduly prolonged, are open to no reasonable objection. The preserving of chickens with spices and condiments may also, perhaps, be considered as desirable provided no harmful chemical preservatives are employed. The temptation, however, to employ such preservatives is so great as not to be always resisted.

Adulteration of Potted Chicken and Turkey.

—Perhaps there is no other form of potted meat, with the possible exception of pâté de foie gras, where such an opulent field for sophistication is found as in the case of potted chicken and turkey. The average composition of ten samples of alleged potted chicken and turkey, found upon the market, is shown in the following table:

All but one of the ten samples contained starch but not in very considerable quantities, the largest amount being 4.13 percent.

None of the samples contained saltpeter. This is an interesting point because of the claim of the packers that saltpeter is used solely for preservation[103] purposes. When a meat is expected to be of a white color no saltpeter is found while, on the contrary, where the meat is of a red character it is frequently found. Tin was present in four samples, doubtless due to some contamination with the solder or by corrosion of the tin can itself. Where tin is present due to the corrosion of the can itself it is always in greater abundance in the old than in the newly canned sample. It is quite certain that the contents of these packages were not made up of chicken and turkey exclusively. The characteristic odor and taste of smoked meats which are found in these packages would indicate that they are used to give flavor and aroma to the mixture. The addition of flavoring materials of this kind, or “force” meats as they are sometimes called, is not objectionable from any sanitary or dietetic point of view. It is, however, an offense against an ethical principle which must be closely followed in a case of this kind if the doors of fraud and adulteration are not to be left wide open. This principle is that no false idea by inference, omission or otherwise, should be conveyed to the consumer by the label. Some form of expression for potted meat should be used in which the label gives the principal or dominant meat in the mixture, accompanied by the statement that it is a mixture with other meats also named, spiced and flavored. Under the present condition of affairs a manufacturer who really wishes to put into potted form chicken and turkey with only spices and condiments has to undergo an unfair competition with another manufacturer who uses the same label and reduces the quantity of expensive meat to a minimum or may possibly leave it out altogether. Under the new food law this unfair competition will be prevented.

Adulteration of Chicken.

—The flesh of chicken is not subjected to any very extensive adulterations. It has been claimed that preservatives are applied externally to fresh fowls but the evidence on this point is not very conclusive. There is, perhaps, little doubt that other methods have been practiced but probably without any very great vogue. The use of chemical preservatives in potted chicken is also reprehensible. In general it may be said that there is no very extensive adulteration of chicken meat. The principal objection to the commerce in preserved chicken meat is the use of old chickens, the unlimited cold storage, the failure to draw at time of slaughter, and exposure in the market in an unsanitary condition and for an indefinite time. Cheaper meats are sometimes substituted for the genuine article in potted chicken. Turkey and pork are said to be used in chicken salad.

Capons.

—The castration of the male bird produces the capon, the flesh of which is very highly valued as being superior to that of the male or female chicken. Capons are much more extensively used in Europe than in the United States but are gradually coming into favor in this country. It is difficult to describe the difference between the taste of the flesh of the capon and the rooster and hen. A greater degree of tenderness and a more delicate taste characterize the flesh of the capon. In France, especially, the production of[104] capons has been carried to its highest perfection. Caponizing should be practiced at an early date in the life of the young bird. In fact, as soon as the distinction in sex is well marked in the young chicken the removal of the testes should take place. The young fowl is laid upon its left side and the skin is exposed by pulling back the feathers and trimming them off at the proper place until the space between the first and second ribs of the right side is laid bare. An incision is then carefully made and the testes removed by instruments particularly adapted for that purpose. The operation should be done by an expert although theoretically it appears easy of accomplishment. In practice, however, it requires an expert to avoid any injury to the bird and to insure a speedy recovery. When done in the proper way, apparently no great inconvenience attends the operation. There is little blood shed and usually no inflammation when the proper antiseptic measures are provided.

The capon develops a bird that apparently has little to do except grow fat and prepare itself for the market. The caponized bird often develops brooding instincts and when eggs are hatched by the heat of the bird the capon makes a better brooder than the hen because of the greater spread of the wings and the larger number of eggs that can be covered in the operation. The larger breeds of birds make the best capons such as the brahmas and plymouth rocks. The capons are fattened and prepared for the market as in the case of other birds. When skimmed milk is made a large portion of the diet the flesh is considered to be of greater value. The best age for marketing a capon is at about twelve months. At that time they have attained their full size and their maximum degree of excellence as a food bird. The feeding should be done upon the principles already described, namely, to keep the birds growing in the usual way until about three or four weeks before the market when the extra food is given in as large quantities as possible for quick fattening. In Europe this extra food is usually given mechanically under the forced system though in this country the mechanical method of feeding capons has not generally been introduced.

Capons bring a higher price upon the market than the other varieties of chicken, sometimes the difference being as much as four or five cents a pound. For this reason the growth of capons becomes more profitable to the farmer than that of the ordinary chicken.

Duck (Anas boschas).

—The domesticated duck is used very largely for food in all parts of the world. Its flavor is not so highly prized as that of the wild duck but it is an excellent article of diet. The production of ducks is conducted in the same manner as the production of poultry in general. They are still chiefly grown upon the farm without any special care but the best results are obtained by the systematic growth of ducks under scientific conditions in poultry houses. The duck is not so extensively used for food as the turkey and chicken but perhaps in this country much more extensively[105] than the goose. The price of the wild duck, however, is still sufficiently low to limit to a certain extent the production of the domesticated article.

Varieties of Ducks.

—There are many varieties of ducks cultivated for the market. The Pekin is perhaps the most abundant of all. It is creamy white in color, has a long and graceful body and has been particularly bred for the market. When ready for the market the average weight of the drake is about eight pounds and the duck seven. The Aylesbury is also a favorite variety. It is said to be somewhat whiter than the Pekin in color. It is specially valued in England as a market duck. It is somewhat larger than the Pekin. Other varieties of ducks are the Rover, the Cayuga, the Gray and White Call, the East Indian, the Crested White, the colored and white Muscovy, and the Indian runner. The latter is a very small duck, being only about one-half the size of the Pekin. Usually the ducks on the market are not designated by any particular variety and, in fact, most consumers are not sufficiently acquainted with the different varieties of duck to be able to ask for any particular one. The mallard, canvas-back, and teal are common varieties of the wild duck.

Composition of the Flesh of Ducks.

—The flesh of two varieties of ducks, namely the Pekin duck and the Mallard duck, was carefully separated in the Bureau of Chemistry and subjected to analysis. The composition of the meat of these two ducks is shown in the following table:

The above data show a striking difference between these two varieties of ducks. The Pekin duck has a large excess of fat while the Mallard duck, which is a wild duck and evidently not very fat, has a small percentage of fat and a large percentage of protein. It is evident that the flesh of wild fowl would not, except at a certain season of the year, approach that of domesticated fowls in the percentage of fat which it contains.

Goose (Anser anser).

—The goose is not so commonly used as a food product in this country as in Europe,—the turkey to some extent has taken its place. The remarks which are applicable to the production of chickens are also applicable to the production of geese. They, perhaps, are grown more extensively in the old-fashioned way in this country than chickens or turkeys at the present time since they are used chiefly for the feathers which they produce and not for food. Goose is also considered a winter dish both in this country and in Europe. It is customary in Europe that the goose be hung even for a longer period before consumption than the chicken. Its flesh is made more tender and more palatable by this preliminary exposure. From one to two weeks is not considered too long a time in the winter for hanging in the old country. The remarks relative to cold storage of turkey and chicken apply also to the goose. The goose is, perhaps, the most easily[106] artificially fattened of any other poultry birds. This is especially true in those regions where fatty goose livers are so highly prized in the manufacture of pâté de foie gras. By long-continued artificial feeding the goose is made excessively fat and the liver especially is changed in its composition by this treatment so as to make it peculiarly suitable for the production of this delicacy.

Varieties of Geese.

—The varieties of geese upon the market comprise the following leading breeds. The Toulouse is perhaps the most extensively raised. It is highly prized on account of its hardihood, its size and the general appearance of its body. It is of a gray to white color and the wings are a deeper gray or brown. The legs are usually of a deep orange. When ready for the market the average weight of the gander is 20 pounds and the goose 18. Of the other common varieties there are the Embden, the African, the brown and white Chinese, the white or Canada, and the Egyptian. The latter is a small goose only weighing about half as much as the Toulouse when ready for the market. The wild goose is highly esteemed as a game bird.

Feeding of Young Geese for the Market.

—The feeding of geese for the market begins as soon as the hatching is complete. The first meal of the young chicks consists of oat meal, middlings, finely chopped dandelions, lettuce or some similar green stuff, and milk. The goslings during the first week are kept indoors and should be fed four or five times a day on the mixture above named. After this they may go into a yard where there is plenty of grass, not overgrown, and they will thrive on this very well for a time without hand feeding. Not more than two feedings a day are necessary between the ages of one and six weeks where plenty of grass is at hand. During this time no better food than ground oats and skimmed milk can be used. During all this period great care is taken that the goslings are not subjected to any disease or to cold. They should be carefully housed in sanitary coups where the temperature does not sink too low and where they are protected from cold rains. After the goslings are eight weeks old they are usually able to take care of themselves in respect of food and need, perhaps only one feeding a day. If these goslings are hatched in the early spring they may be ready for fattening for the Christmas market. The geese until shortly before the time for market are allowed to run free in a field, not too large, where there are ponds or troughs of water in abundance. In this way the frame of the goose will be sufficiently developed by the time the fattening period comes but there will have been no unusual expense in the production of the fowl until it is prepared for the market. The large frame is necessary in order that the goose may properly fatten. It usually requires about three weeks of artificial feeding to bring a goose into proper condition for the market. If the geese are for the Christmas market about the 25th of November they are put up in sheds for fattening for though they have been well fed during the summer and autumn they cannot be called fat geese until they have gone through a special course of nutrition. While they are confined for[107] fattening, geese require plenty of fresh air but very little light and these conditions are procured by housing them in large airy sheds without windows. Before the fattening season these sheds are thoroughly cleaned and whitewashed and the floor covered with cinders, ashes, and charcoal. This mixture is not only a good bedding but is also a good deodorizer, which is quite important. Food troughs are arranged along the walls inside the shed and troughs for water outside in such a way that the birds can reach the water but cannot get into it. Clean charcoal is to be put into the shed every day as it is constantly eaten by the geese and is valuable. The foods used are oat meal, boiled potatoes, linseed meal or other oil cakes, and plenty of milk, usually skimmed. The birds should have all of this that they can eat, for in the process we are now describing the artificial forcing of food into the craw is not practiced. In three weeks a good goose will increase four or five pounds in weight and this increase brings the goose up from an ordinary bird in good condition to one which is properly fed for the market.

The killing of geese is practiced in practically the same manner as that which is described for slaughtering fowls. A goose is a bird of large vitality and dies hard as is the case with most fowls. The feathers should be taken off the body clean, as they are valuable for commercial purposes. Any pin feathers should be cut with a sharp knife so as to make the bird look as clean as possible when brought to the market. The carcass of the goose should not be packed to send to market until it is entirely cold and in this country, especially, where the distances are great, it is advisable to send it packed in ice or in a cold storage car. The average weight of a goose about nine months old thus prepared for the market is about fourteen pounds and the flesh is certain to be more palatable at this age when fattened in the manner above described.

Domesticated Pigeon (Columba livia).

—In the last few years the production of domesticated pigeons has been extensively practiced in this country, and especially the production of young pigeons which are known as squabs. They are rapidly taking the place of game birds at the hotels and restaurants of the country. The conditions of production, preparation, etc., are the same as those for the ordinary domesticated fowl. There are many varieties of the bird grown; some, as the carrier, for special purposes. The other principal varieties are barbs, fantails, jacobins, runts, trumpeters, tumblers, and turbits.

Turkey (Meleagris americana).

—In general the statement which has been made regarding the production of fowls or chickens may be applied also to the production of turkeys. No further comment, therefore, is to be made under that head. The old-fashioned method of securing turkeys grown under natural conditions has, to a great extent, given way to the production of turkeys on a large scale and under scientific conditions. Turkeys, as a rule, are not eaten young, but practically full-grown. In this country the turkey[108] is a dish which is particularly affected for festive occasions such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, though they are eaten largely throughout the whole year. The market, however, for turkeys is particularly a November and December market and the large introduction of turkeys in the market is so timed as to furnish them in proper condition for consumption during those two months.

The methods of preparing turkeys for the market, keeping them in cold storage, of hanging them previous to consumption and exposing them drawn or undrawn for sale, are subject to the same remarks as has been made in the case of chickens. Turkeys are said to be more difficult to care for, both on the farm and in the professional poultry factory, than chickens. They are more subject to disease and more difficult to bring to maturity than chickens.

Composition of Meat of Turkey.

—The flesh of the turkey was separated into two portions, the white and dark meats, and these were found to have the following composition:

A comparison of these two analyses show that there is little difference in the content of water in the white and dark meat. The dark meat, as in the case of chicken, has more fat and a correspondingly less amount of protein. The quantity of protein in the meat of turkey is about the same as that of chicken. The white meat of turkey differs from the white meat of chicken more in its content of meat bases than in any other way, except that the meat of turkey contains more fat, especially the white meat, than that of chicken.

Composition of the Meat of Chicken, Turkey, Duck, and Goose.

—The composition of the chicken, turkey, duck, goose, and pigeon as given by König is found in the following table:

The above data show that with the exception of the goose the percentage of fat given in the flesh of the animals is very much less than that found in our own work. Even in the fat chicken only a little over 9 percent of fat was found. It is believed that the composition of these fowls as given by the work of the Bureau of Chemistry more nearly represents the average composition in this country than the data taken from König.

Importance of Animal Food in the Growth of Poultry.

—Many people suppose that poultry can live upon vegetables alone and this is probably true. Experience, however, shows that poultry does not thrive and fatten well on purely[109] vegetable food. This fact was brought out very prominently in the experiments at the Cornell station where poultry of the same origin and character was fed two kinds of diet, one being partly of animal food and the other purely vegetable foods. The ration of the animal food consisted of Indian corn meal, wheat flour, ground oats, wheat bran, wheat middlings, pea meal, linseed meal, meat, and fresh bone. The vegetable ration consisted of pea meal, linseed meal, wheat bran, ground oats, Indian corn meal, wheat middlings, gluten meal, and skimmed milk. Before the experiment had been long under way it was noticed that the birds receiving the meat food were developing rapidly and evenly while those that received the purely vegetable diet were becoming thin and uneven in size. The authors of the bulletin say that it was sometimes almost pitiful to see the long-necked, scrawny, vegetable-fed birds, with troughs full of abundant good, wholesome food before them, stand on the alert and scamper in hot haste after the unlucky grasshopper or fly which ventured into their pen, while the contented looking meat-fed ducks lay lazily in the sun and paid no attention to the buzzing bee or crawling beetle. The vegetable-fed birds literally starved to death, at least many of them, so that only twenty of the thirty-three with which the experiment was commenced were alive at the close of the fifteen weeks of feeding.

The Forced Fattening of Poultry.

—Allusion has already been made to the forced fattening of poultry secured by injecting food into the craw in larger quantities than would naturally be taken by the fowl if left to itself. There is much to be said both for and against this method of fattening. In favor of this method it may be stated that the birds fattened in this way are more highly prized by the connoisseur, are naturally fatter by reason of the enforced idleness of the birds during the fattening process, thus diminishing muscular activity, and more tender than the birds left at freedom and forced to secure their own food. From the point of view of the seller, also, the birds are heavier and the artificially fattened fowl usually brings a higher price, pound for pound, on the market. Against the method it is urged that it is barbarous, imposing upon the birds a diet far beyond normal capacity and thus tending to damage and injure the organs of the body charged with the assimilation of food and the secretion of the waste products.

The above indictment is doubtless true is almost every respect. In explanation it may be said that the period of forcing food is always a short one, rarely extending beyond three weeks, and, therefore, any injury to the organs which might be induced is not of sufficient duration to establish any real form of disease. In other words, the birds are slaughtered before any lesions of the organs are produced. The livers of the animals, especially geese, thus artificially fattened, take on an extra quantity of fat during this period but it cannot be said that they become really diseased. The fatty livers, as is well known, are used particularly in the manufacture of a mixed spiced meat known as pâté de foie gras.

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Upon the whole it is believed that no injury is done the bird by this process of feeding which could in any way be regarded as detrimental to the flesh as a food product. In regard to the apparent barbarity of the process little need be said. The slaughter of animals for human food in itself is a barbarous practice from one point of view but if this practice is justified, as it doubtless is, by the exigencies of human nutrition, the slight degree of force which is employed in artificial fattening cannot be condemned. Moreover the artificial fattening of the fowl is of necessity a somewhat limited operation and confined to those establishments that are devoted exclusively to the production of high-grade and high-priced poultry for the market. The fattening is done by experts and, in so far as the experience of feeding men in the same way is concerned, is not attended with any pain or discomfort other than that incident to a chronically full craw.

Increase in Weight.

—There is a larger increase in the weight of artificially fattened poultry over those fed in the ordinary way and allowed to run free than is usually supposed. It is stated by some authors that the average increase in weight of artificially fattened birds is as much as 35 percent. There is no secret connected with the method of artificial fattening as is sometimes supposed. There are perhaps proprietary methods for preparing foods for fattening purposes but there is no secret in the mechanism of the process. In fact the process is so simple that it might be easily taught in a general way so that the farm hand would become an expert in its use and the farmer’s poultry instead of being sent to market in a half-emaciated condition might be offered to the public in the best possible shape. Poultry running at large use up a large part of the value of their food in the heat and energy developed in the ordinary search for food. When confined and fed artificially this excess of heat and energy is naturally stored as fat.

Experience has shown that the artificial feeding must be a limited one and the bird must be sent to market as soon as it has reached its maximum of perfection under the process. Experience has also shown that in the artificial feeding it is best to have each bird in a small compartment to itself with the cage so arranged that the bird can put its head through a slat in front and thus receive the food from the machine without disturbing any of its neighbors. That the birds are perfectly willing to take the food in this way is evidenced by the fact that they voluntarily put their heads through the apertures to receive their food. Each individual coup must be kept scrupulously clean and disinfected and the air in the room kept perfectly fresh and sweet. Lime should be used freely in all parts of the coup house in the form of whitewash or sprinkled about the floor or upon the floors of the coups. Gypsum or ordinary land plaster is also highly prized as another form of lime which is found to be very valuable. The whitewash must be freely indulged in and at frequent intervals.

There are various forms of fattening food used in this country. Indian[111] corn meal forms an important part. The presence of certain animal products must not be neglected in the food as it has been shown that fowls thrive better when given, in their food, a certain amount of animal matter, both of flesh and finely ground bone. The fattening food must be in the form of a finely ground paste of the proper consistency to be handled well in the machine. It is a universal practice which custom has shown to be necessary to mix with the food a certain quantity of finely pulverized charcoal, usually about three pounds of the charcoal to 97 pounds of food. Some feeders prefer to mix the paste about twenty-four hours before it is administered, believing that the slight fermentation thus produced is beneficial.

The Cramming Machine.

—Various forms of machines are employed for introducing the food into the craw. The tube carrying the food is introduced into the esophagus of the bird in a manner to avoid any pain and the apparatus is so adjusted that with a single movement of the machine, usually operated by the foot, the proper amount of food is injected. The birds should be arranged according to size so that all of a certain size may have exactly the same quantity of food administered. The operator would thus be saved the difficulty of guessing the different sizes. The arrangement of the coups and the kind of the cramming machine vary greatly. In the beginning of artificial feeding the birds should not be pushed to their full capacity. An increasing quantity of food should be given up to the end of the first week or ten days before the full maximum dose is administered. In general it is found best to take the bird out of the coup for feeding, holding it under the arm so that the neck can be made perfectly straight and gently inserting the flexible tube which carries the food and thus with the single movement of a lever, filling the craw. The use of the machine, however, is found to be advantageous from a point of economy although it is claimed that the cramming of birds by means of a funnel has been found very efficacious. With a good machine an expert operator can feed about 250 birds in an hour. An important point in the fattening is that the food should be given regularly.

Slaughtering Fowls for the Market.

—It is important that a uniform and proper method be used for killing fowls intended for the market. There are two methods in common vogue, namely, by bleeding and by dislocation of the neck. The method of killing is important in order that the proper method of dressing for the market may be secured. A fowl which is offered for sale ought to be attractively dressed and any brutal or defacing method of slaughter makes it impossible afterwards to render the fowl attractive to the customer.

In killing by the dislocation of the neck the operator takes the bird by the thigh and top of the wing in the left hand and the head in the right and then draws it steadily until dislocation takes place. The skin remains unbroken and no bruised effect is produced but all the blood in the body drains into the neck and remains there. This method is one especially practiced in England[112] (Journal, Board of Agriculture, 1904-5, page 306). Where the bird is very large, as is the case with turkeys, it may require the full strength of a man in order to produce the dislocation in the manner mentioned. In this case it is often necessary to first hang the bird up by the leg to secure the best results.

In killing a fowl by bleeding it is strung up by the legs with its head hanging downward. The operator then gives it a sharp blow with a stick on the back of the head and when he has stunned it by this means he inserts a sharp knife into the roof of the mouth, penetrating the brain. He also severs the large artery of the throat by rotating the knife and the bird rapidly bleeds to death. This method of killing, it is seen, is not a very humane one. If, for instance, the sensation of the bird is not destroyed by the first blow the other process must be needlessly painful. This process, simplified somewhat by omitting the hanging, is the one commonly followed by professionals in this country. In England turkeys which are prepared for the market are plucked but not drawn. One of the newest methods of plucking is known as the Devonshire style and consists in stripping the feathers clean off the breast and thighs but leaving the neck, back and wings covered. The fowls are then tied around the legs with a strong cord in such a manner as to show the plumpness of the breast prominently.

The methods of preparation of the fowls depend largely on the demands of the market to which they are going. Some require the fowls to be clean plucked and others prefer some of the feathers left on.

Eggs.

—Eggs are a common article of diet throughout the world. The eggs of domesticated fowls are those which are principally used for food, though the eggs of wild fowls, and birds and reptiles are also edible but on account of the difficulty of getting them and their rarity are not to be considered as a commercial article. The chief sources of supply are the eggs of chickens, ducks, and geese. Chicken eggs are by far the most important, duck eggs the next important, and goose eggs the least important. The eggs of fish also constitute an article of food of considerable value and are extensively used. For instance the fresh eggs of shad are used in large quantities during the whole of the shad season and are often kept in cold storage for use at other times. The eggs of sturgeon are used extensively in the fresh state and when pickled as caviar are highly esteemed throughout the world. These two kinds of eggs are probably the most important of fish eggs used for food purposes. Chicken eggs vary greatly in size according to the age and variety of the fowl. The average weight of chicken eggs is 680 grams per dozen. They vary also in color from pure white to a brownish yellow. Duck eggs are larger and also variegated in color. The average weight of duck eggs is 847.2 grams per dozen. Goose eggs are the largest of the three varieties, varying also in color. They weigh on an average 2284.8 grams per dozen. Eggs also vary greatly in shape, being generally ovoid but some being much more spherical than others according[113] to the species of the fowl and variety. The number of eggs which a chicken will lay varies greatly. Attempts have been made, with great success, at experiment stations, to develop chickens with high laying powers. A hen which will produce over 200 eggs a year is regarded as a high-grade fowl for egg-producing purposes. Eggs are produced more abundantly during the early spring and summer than during the winter months. One of the purposes of scientific egg producing is the development of fowls that will produce eggs more evenly throughout the whole year, thus avoiding the very great depression in the price of eggs in the spring and the excessively high price of eggs in the winter.

Composition of Eggs.

—A large number of eggs have been analyzed in all quarters of the world and found to vary but little in composition in different localities, and very little also in regard to the variety of the fowl. The egg consists essentially of two portions,—an external highly albuminous portion known as the white and an internal colored portion, yellow or reddish in tint, known as the yolk. The white of an egg is composed almost entirely of albumin partially dissolved in water. The yolk of the egg is composed of albumin, fat, and a phosphorus-bearing material of high nutritive value known as lecithin. The yolk of an egg is a much richer food product than the white, containing in addition to the nitrogenous element the fat and mineral bodies necessary to nutrition. Both the white and yolk of an egg are composed principally of water as will be seen by the following analytical data:

COMPOSITION OF EDIBLE PART OF EGGS.

Preservation of Eggs.

—Freshly laid eggs may be preserved for several days without any notable deterioration by keeping in a cool place. The temperature of preservation should be as nearly the freezing point as can be secured. The vital processes are continually going on in a fresh egg and hence there is a development of a certain degree of heat due to these activities. For this reason eggs can be placed in an atmosphere below the freezing point of water without being frozen. An additional reason for this is found in the fact that the water which is present in eggs holds the albumin and other bodies in solution and the freezing point of a solution is always lower than that of the solvent alone. For domestic purposes where refrigerating establishments are not available the fresh eggs should be kept in a cool dark place where the temperature is not allowed to go above 50 or 60 degrees. At a higher temperature than this fresh eggs lose their freshness in a remarkably short time. The porous nature of the shell is a condition which favors the deterioration of the egg by the admission of air and microbes into the substance of the egg itself.

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The preservation of eggs is, therefore, materially assisted by coating the egg artificially with a varnish or film of some kind which renders the egg impervious to air and water. One of the cheapest, simplest, and best of these coatings, as has already been noted, is soluble glass. This is produced by dissolving the chemical substance known as silicate of soda in water, and dipping the egg into the solution, removing and allowing to dry. The silicate of soda which is thus left in a thin film over the surface of the egg penetrates and stops the pores and renders the egg shell practically impervious both to air and water. This material has the property of becoming totally insoluble in water when it has once been dried so that even if the egg is afterwards subjected to rain or water in any form the film is not removed. Many other methods of coating eggs have been employed and are dependent upon the same principle but are perhaps not so effectual and simple as the inexpensive method above described.

Cold Storage.

—Eggs either with or without the coating of the surface, usually without, may be kept for a considerable length of time without deterioration in cold storage. In this case it is advisable to reduce the temperature to the lowest possible point to retain the semi-fresh condition of the contents. Water freezes at 32 degrees, but for the reasons above mentioned the temperature at which the egg is stored may be reduced notably below 32 degrees without danger of solidifying. The eggs kept in cold storage gradually acquire a taste and aroma which are quite different from the fresh article and the period of preservation should never be prolonged, probably a month or six weeks is the extreme limit for keeping eggs which can still be regarded as having the qualities of the fresh article. In practice, eggs are kept often a very much longer time since the principal object of cold storage is to lay in a supply in the spring and summer when they are abundant and keep them over until the next winter. The average age of cold storage eggs is probably more than six months. At this time the eggs have acquired a distinctly unpleasant odor and flavor which enables even one who is not an expert to distinguish between them and the fresh article. Such eggs should not be allowed on the market except under their proper designation so that the purchaser may know the character of the product he is getting. There is a determined opposition on the part of those dealing in cold storage eggs against such marking, an opposition which can only be explained by the fact that the amount of deterioration is fully as great as specified. If cold storage eggs have not been kept long enough to develop any of the objectionable conditions mentioned above and are inferior only in respect of taste and aroma there seems to be no just reason why they should be forbidden sale. They usually bring a lower price than fresh eggs produced at the time of sale and thus are brought more readily within the means of those who are less able to pay the higher prices. Cold storage eggs are extensively used for baking purposes and in this condition escape the detection of the consumer. This appears, however, to be no just reason for their use without notice.

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Broken Eggs.

—An extensive industry has been practiced for many years in the product known as broken eggs. In the preparation of broken eggs at times of great abundance, the eggs are collected and broken and then mixed together in containers of various sizes, often as large as barrels, and preserved by the admixture of borax. From two to four pounds of borax are usually employed per 100 pounds of broken eggs. In this condition the eggs are kept from the time of great abundance until the time of higher prices, namely, from six to eight months, and then sent into commerce. The use of broken eggs of this kind for edible purposes is totally indefensible. While borax prevents the development of bacteria it does not entirely inhibit enzymic action and hence that subtle change of nitrogenous matter which produces poisonous bodies may go on in the presence of borax while apparently the egg itself remains undecomposed. Broken eggs were formerly sent to this country in large quantities from China and other Asiatic countries but since the passage of food inspection laws as applied to foreign commerce the importation of this class of food products has been prohibited, on the ground that they are unfit for human consumption. Other preserving agents have been used in place of borax for these products, but all are open to similar objections. Broken eggs are used chiefly by bakers in large cities.

Dried Eggs.

—The rapid drying of fresh eggs is perhaps an unobjectionable method of preservation. The drying may take place by spreading the eggs in a thin film on a dry surface, which is the usual method, or by forcing the egg product through small orifices under a high pressure into a drying chamber so adjusted as to temperature and size as to secure the desiccation of the minute particles of egg spray before they fall to the bottom. This method is perhaps the best which has yet been developed in the desiccation of such products. The egg powder thus formed is almost devoid of moisture and when properly collected and stored out of contact with the air, may be kept for a time without deterioration. Dry egg products such as have been described made from fresh eggs, may be considered unobjectionable for a reasonable length of time. Unfortunately dried products are sometimes made from decayed eggs. During the past year a factory making a product of this kind was discovered by the food inspector of one of our large cities.

Egg Substitutes.

—Many products have been put upon the market of a yellow color and containing protein under the guise of eggs. There is a number of so-called egg powders offered for making cakes, etc., which contain no egg at all. They are composed of other forms of protein matter, generally casein from milk, and colored to resemble the egg in tint. Starchy substances are also colored and sold as egg powder. These substances may be regarded as adulterations when sold under the name or in the guise of an egg product. There are no other adulterations of eggs of any consequence practiced except the simulation of egg material by such products as those just mentioned.

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Poisonous Principles in Eggs.

—While fresh eggs for most people form a food product entirely devoid of danger, nutritious and easily digestible, eggs may easily become injurious and even poisonous. According to experiments made by Bouchard (Scientific American, August 11, 1896, page 95), even fresh eggs, unless the sanitary conditions in which the fowls live are well cared for, may become very poisonous. The fowl producing eggs, as a rule, is not a cleanly animal, and this is especially true of the duck. Thus injurious organic material rich in microbes may contaminate the egg and the microbes may penetrate the shell thus rendering the egg unsuitable for consumption. Eggs contaminated in this way have given evidence of toxic phenomena even in a fresh state. Experiments have shown too that the food material of eggs if directly injected into the blood of an animal produces toxic effects whereas if injected into the stomach no unfavorable effects are produced. Egg albumin, that is, the albumin of the white of the egg, when fed in considerable quantities to animals partially escapes digestion and thus becomes a source of irritation and even of poisoning. There are many people who are remarkably sensitive to the influence of eggs and those who possess this idiosyncrasy are injured even by eggs which are perfectly harmless to other people. A large number of species of injurious microbes which infect eggs have been identified. These even are found in fresh eggs in the unsanitary conditions above mentioned. Eggs kept for a long while in cold storage or decayed in any way are extremely injurious. Fortunately decayed eggs are self protecting since they can only be eaten by accident. If, however, decayed eggs be eaten in diluted form by mixing with other foods they may be eaten without their characteristic odor or taste being known and thus great injury arises. It is advised in all cases where eggs are to be kept for some time even in cold storage to varnish them with some substance impenetrable to air. For this purpose, as has already been mentioned, soluble glass, which is chemically a silicate of soda, has been found extremely effective. Any of the varnishes which make the shell of an egg air tight tends to restrain the activities of bacterial life since the bacteria cannot live without air. The officials who inspect food should direct special care to the storing of eggs in order that no damage may result from keeping them too long in cold storage or otherwise. It must not be understood that poisoning by eggs is of common occurrence. In fact it is very rare. The fact that the egg itself, which is such a common article of diet, may be unsanitary and improperly kept is a matter of great concern to the consumer.

Parasites in Eggs.

—The egg also when produced in unsanitary conditions may become infected with parasites. Many of these are apparently harmless, but some are injurious and even dangerous. The mere fact that parasites may exist in eggs is of itself a sufficient reason for the consumer to insist that the eggs he eats, like the milk he drinks, shall be free from all infections due solely to carelessness in production.

FISH.

Fish furnish a very important and useful part of the animal food of man. Both the fish growing in fresh water and in salt water are generally edible. Usually the smaller-sized fish are considered more palatable, but this is not universally the case. The large-sized fish are apt to be coarse, and have a less desirable flavor than those of smaller size. The size of the fish usually depends upon the magnitude of the body of water in which the species grow, the largest being in the lakes and oceans, the medium-size in rivers, and the smallest in brooks. Fish are known chiefly by their common names, and these names are different for the same species of fish in different parts of the country. For instance, the term trout covers a multitude of species, and, likewise, under the term sardine a large number of different species or varieties of fish are considered. There is also a large number of varieties known as salmon, perch, bass, etc.

In the following table are given the common and the scientific names of the principal food fishes used in the United States (see Report of U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 1888, pages 679-868):

• Acipenseridæ:
• Acipenser sturio oxyrhynchus, Sturgeon.
• Catostomidæ:
• Moxostoma velatum, Small-mouthed red-horse.
• Clupeidæ:
• Clupea harengus, Herring.
• pilchardus, Sardine.
• vernalis, Alewife.
• sapidissima, Shad.
• Salmonidæ:
• Osmerus mordax, Smelt.
• Coregonus clupeiformis, Whitefish.
• sp., tullibee or artedi, Ciscoe.
• Oncorhynchus chouicha, California salmon.
• Salmo salar, Salmon.
• subsp. sebago, Land-locked salmon.
• Salvelinus namaycush, Lake trout.
• fontinalis, Brook trout.
• Esocidæ[118]:
• Esox lucius, Pike.
• reticulatus, Pickerel.
• nobilior, Muskellunge.
• Anguillidæ:
• Anguilla rostrata, Eel.
• Mugilidæ:
• Mugil albula, Mullet.
• Scombridæ:
• Scomber scombrus, Mackerel.
• Scomberomorus maculatus, Spanish mackerel.
• Orcynus thynnus, Tunny.
• Carangidæ:
• Trachynotus carolinus, Pompano.
• Pomatomidæ:
• Pomatomus saltatrix, Bluefish.
• Stromateidæ:
• Stromateus triacanthus, Butter-fish.
• Centrarchidæ:
• Micropterus salmoides, Large-mouthed black bass.
• dolomieu, Small-mouthed black bass.
• Percidæ:
• Perca fluviatilis, Yellow perch.
• Stizostedion vitreum, Wall-eyed pike.
• canadense, Gray pike.
• Serranidæ:
• Roccus lineatus, Striped bass.
• americanus, White perch.
• Centropristis atrarius, Sea bass.
• Epinephelus morio, Red grouper.
• Sparidæ:
• Lutjanus blackfordi, Red snapper.
• Stenotomus chrysops, Porgy.
• Diplodus probatocephalus, Sheepshead.
• Sciænidæ:
• Sciæna ocellata, Red bass.
• Menticirrus saxatilis, Kingfish.
• Cynoscion regale, Weakfish.
• Labridæ:
• Hiatula onitis, Blackfish.
• Gadidæ:
• Phycis chuss, Hake.
• Brosmius brosme, Cusk.
• Melanogrammus æglefinus, Haddock.
• Gadus morrhua, Cod.
• Microgadus tomcod, Tomcod.
• Pollachius virens, Pollock.
• Pleuronectidæ:
• Hippoglossus hippoglossus, Halibut.
• Platysomatichthys hippoglossoides, Turbot.
• Paralichthys dentatus, Flounder.
• Pseudopleuronectes americanus, Flounder.
• Petromyzontidæ[119]:
• Petromyzon marinus, Lamprey eel.
• Raiidæ:
• Raia sp., Skate.

Some of the scientific names in the above list have been modified by recent research, but it is advisable to present the above classification for purpose of reference. The variations from these names will be given in the part of the discussion relating to the food value of fish, in which the classification of Jordan and Evermann is followed.

Edible Portion of Fish.

—As in the case of other animals large parts of fish as taken from the water are inedible. In the preparation of fish the head is usually removed, especially if the fish be of any size, and the entrails rejected. If the fish be scaly, the scales are also removed. The latter vary very greatly in different specimens according to species, size, etc. Usually the edible portion of the fish is larger in quantity than the inedible, though this is not by any means universally the case. Taking fish of all kinds together it may be said that from 55 to 60 percent of the total weight is edible. This, of course, excludes the bones as well as the other portions already referred to.

Principal Constituents of the Flesh of Fish.

—In the flesh of cattle, swine, and other edible animals already mentioned it is seen that the protein is the principal part of the edible portion. In many kinds of meat, however, the fat is the principal portion, as in bacon. In the flesh of fish the albuminoids occupy a more prominent part than in the flesh of domesticated animals or game. In other words the proportion of fat, which is one of the principal ingredients of the flesh of other animals, is less than in the other kinds of flesh. The protein in the water-free substance often constitutes over 90 percent of the total matter, and rarely falls below 80 percent. The next most important constituent of the dry flesh of fish naturally is the fat. The average content of fat in the dry flesh of fish is under 10,—it rarely goes above 20 and sometimes falls as low as 2 or 3 percent. The mineral content of the dry flesh of fish is quite constant. It rarely falls below 4 or goes above 8 percent; 5 percent may be regarded as a fair average content of mineral matter. The mineral matter consists chiefly of phosphate of potash and lime, together with some common salt. In the analyses made by Atwater, adopted in the following pages, he grouped together the fish analyzed in proportion to the quantity of the edible portion or flesh which they contained. Groupings were also made on account of the dry substance in the flesh and in proportion to the water and fat which they contained. These tables are of value showing in a general way the relative food importance of the different specimens of fish. This classification is given in the following table:

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Classification of Fishes by Percentages of Flesh, Chiefly Muscular Tissue in Entire Body.

Classification of Fishes by Proportions of Fat in the Flesh of Specimens Analyzed.