A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF COLD-STORAGE 



TEMPERATURES UPON THE CHEMICAL 



COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE 



VALUE OF FISH 



CLAYTON S. SMITH 



(Biochemical Laboratory of Columbia University, at the College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons, New York) 



I. INTRODUCTION 



With the invention of the ammonia machine for the production 

 of low temperatures, the cold-storage industry may properly date 

 its beginning. Although the use of low temperatures for the 

 preservation of foodstuffs has long been recognized, it is only 

 recently that careful studies have been made of the effects upon 

 food products of long periods of cold storage. 



Among the first to note the effect of cold upon foods was Tel- 

 lier/ who observed that meat stored at from — 2° to +3° C. 

 retained its freshness. Bouley^ also found that at a temperature of 

 — 2° to +3° C, meat kept for an indefinite period so far as putres- 

 cence was concerned, but not from the Standpoint of edibility. 

 Grassman^ found that meats kept for eight months at a temperature 

 of — 2° C. to — 4° C. did not deteriorate. He claimed that refrig- 

 erated meats may be cooked in less time than the fresh materials. 



A comparative study of the chemical composition of fresh and 

 cold-stored foods was made by Girard,"* who studied the phos- 

 phorus content of vegetables and some animal products, such as 

 pork, mutton, beef, eggs and milk. Gautier^ made a very detailed 

 study of the difference between fresh and cold-stored beef and 



iTellier: Rev. d. Hyg., 1897, xix, p. 298. 



2 Bouley : Compt. rend., 1874, Ixxix, p. 739. 



3 Grassman : Landw. Jahrb., 1892, xxi, p. 467, 

 * Girard : Compt. rend., 1896, cxxii, p. 1387. 



5 Gautier : Rev. d. Hyg., 1897, xix, p. 289. 



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