COLD STORAGE PROBLEMS 153 



COLD STOEAGE PROBLEMS 



By Dk. P. G. HEINEMANN 



UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 



COLD storage is but one of many methods of conserving foods. 

 There is a period of plenty for every food substance, during 

 which time much would go to waste if there were no provision for con- 

 servation, and when prices are low to the consumer and profits large to 

 the producer. During the balance of the year food is scarce and must 

 of necessity bring exorbitant prices, if within reach at all. Usually the 

 period of plenty covers but a fraction of the year and bears to some ex- 

 tent a definite relation to climatic and soil conditions. The gap be- 

 tween the periods of plenty and scarcity is felt least in the centers of 

 population, where transportation facilities make many foods available 

 throughout the year. There, for instance, berries are obtainable before 

 and after the natural period of supply has expired, the provisions being 

 carried in refrigerator cars from southern and northern climates, where 

 conditions favor their production. Also many fruits, such as oranges, 

 grapefruit and pineapple, are carried successfully from tropic and sub- 

 tropic countries to parts of the world where they can not be grown. 

 These conditions are made possible by efficient transportation. Un- 

 doubtedly within the near future transportation facilities will be im- 

 proved so as to encourage the raising of crops in tropical climates to 

 such an extent that fruits and vegetables will be available in northern 

 countries throughout the year. Many luxuries of the table could not 

 now be obtained, were it not for the systematic conservation of food 

 articles. y 



There are more than 3,000 million dollars worth of foods placed in 

 cold storage annually, of which about one half is meat. Capitalists are 

 expending money and scientists are giving their time to the exploita- 

 tion of this promising field. Although the problem is still in its in- 

 fancy, ways and means of furthering cold storage are being investi- 

 gated. The chief problems to be investigated are the handling of foods 

 previous to placing them in cold storage; the chemical changes taking 

 place during storage; the study of the microorganisms that produce 

 these changes; the sanitary conditions of cold storage warehouses, and 

 the care of foods after leaving cold storage. 



Many foods that constitute a regular and almost necessary part of 

 the diet of civilized man are really nothing but the results of preserv- 



VOL. LXXXI. — 11. 



