Nearly the entire tuna industry has aoofted the newly developed tuna pacxinq 



EQUIPMENT. For solid packing, the "PaCK-SHAPER" is USriD BY MOST OF THE ll«USTRY. 

 The cleaned loins are fed by HANC into a "shaping tunnel composed dp FOUR BELTS. 

 The LOINS ARE compressed INTO A CYLINDER OF TUNA WHICH 13 PUSHED INTO CANS, ONE AT 

 A TIME, AND THE CORRECT THICKNESS CUT OFF BV A KNIFE„ ThE GORBY ATO OaVEY MACH- 

 INES HAVE ALSO BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THIS PURPOSE. THEY ARE 90MEV/HAT SIMILAR A^C 

 UTILIZE A MEASURING BOX. 



Hand-packing labor costs about $.50 per case. The "PACK-SmPER" elimiwtes 

 all of tv€ packing labor except for the one to three persons who are s^^uireo to 

 feed the machine. machine packing is used but royalty payments of at least i l# 

 per case have to be paid, amd there may be some loss in yield. to the expert, the 

 appearance of the machine solid pack may be inferior to hand-packed fish because 

 cans are not so ti'3h7l.y packed md the fish tends to have a slightly raggec cut 

 surface. developmental work 13 continuing toward elimination of these objections. 



both tve chum< pack and the flaked or grated tuna are machine-packed by 

 equipment specially designed for this purpose. 



Salt is added by conventional type equipment, hot oil is generally added at 

 te>*>eratures from 160° to 225 f. 



Exhaust boxes, turret steajji flow seamers, and vacuum seamers are used to 

 create a vacuum in the cans. 



Efficiency of can washing seems to be more a function of attention to operat- 

 ing DETAILS SUCH AS KiATNTAINlNQ ADEQLArELY HIGH WATER TEMPERATURE AND USE OF SUF- 

 FICIENT DETERQENT THAN TO DESIGN OF EQUIPMENT. 



Cans are labeled and boxed by coNvE^^•|ONAL equipment, Afc storage is palletiz- 

 ed WITH USE OF LIFT TRUCKS. 



Frozen raw loins and frozen cooked loinb are two relatively new tuna products 

 WHICH Japan has shipped to tuna canneries in The United States in very limited 

 quantities. 



The frozen cooked lo'ns, as received bv the canneries, are thoroughly cleaned 



AND READY for PACKING INTO CANS. PRACTICALLY 100 PERCENT RECOVERY FROM T(C LOINS 

 CAN BE EXPECTED IF THE PRESENT DIFFICULTIES WITH OXIDATION CAN BE ELIMINATED. 



The PRODUCTION OF FROZEN LOINS, VWETHER RAW OR COOKED, OFFERS SEVERAL AD- 

 VANTAGES. Plant operators in Japan benefit through' additional processing activi- 

 ties. SiNCE ONLY The USABLE PORTION OF THE TUNA IS SHIPPED, UNITED STATES PLANTS 

 BENEFIT FROM REDUCED SHIPP|I>IQ COSTS. USE OF THE IMPORTED COOKED LOINS /J.SO WILL 

 RESULT IN A SUBSTANTIAL SAVING IN LA3CR COSTS SINCE FEW, IF ANY, OF THE PLANT 

 PERSON^€L NORMALLY EMPLOYED IN THE BLiTCHERINO, PRECOOKINQ, AMD CLEANING OPERATIONS 

 WILL BE REQUIRED. 



A NEWER PRODUCT, WHICH COULO SERIOUSLY AFFECT PRESENT TUNA CANNING OPERATIONS, 

 IS FROZEN, CANNED (uNSEALED), PRECOOKED TUNA. A SAMPLE LOT OF THE PRODUCT WAS 

 PREPARED IN JAPAN BY PACKING PRECOOKED AND CLEANED ALBACORE MEAT IN NO. I /2 TUNA 

 CANS AMD FREEZING THE OPEN CANS Of TUNA. TlHE FROZEN PRODUCT WAS THEN SHIPPED TO 

 A CANNERY IN THE UNITED STATES FOR COMPLETION OF THE CANNING PROCESS, THE PROCESS 

 MAY BE SUBJECT TO A UNITED STATES PATENT. 



280 



