144 



U. S. BUREAU or FISHERIES. 



H. M. Loomis, formerly chief of the Seattle food and drug inspec- 

 tion laboratory, Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, reports as follows, on analyses of both canned and fresh 

 Pacific salmon made at this laboratory." 



CANNED SALMON (1911 PACK.) a 



FRESH SALMON (CAUGHT MAY 7, 1912), EDIBLE PORTIONS. 



Puget Sound sockove 



Puget Sound steclhead or sal- 

 mon trout 



Per cent. 

 67.48 



67.89 



Per cent. 

 8.86 



9.39 



Per cent. 

 22.24 



21.80 



Per cent. 

 1.36 



1.35 



Per cent. 



Per cent. 

 0.0121 



. 0135 



Per cent. 

 0.0205 



.0218 



o Each sample is average of two or more cans. All samples, except No. 2, are old form 1-pound tall cans. 



No. 2 is i-pound flat cans. 

 b Represents the fat. 

 c Represents the salt. 



ANALYSES OF CANNED SALMON BY SOUTH DAKOTA AUTHORITIES. 



In 1916 the South Dakota Food and Drug Department analyzed a 

 considerable number of samples of canned salmon for the purpose of 

 determining, if possible, whether inferior grades of the fish were sub- 

 stituted for the netter grades, and for the furtlier purpose of discover- 

 ing some means of identifying the different types of salmon by 

 chemical analysis. 



Thirty-three samples of commercial canned salmon, including 30 different brands, 

 were analyzed. Thirteen of these were labeled as belonging to the sockeye class, 

 five to the coho, six to the humpback, and one to the chum. Five samples were not 

 lalicled as to variety. One sample was labeled "Salmon Steaks" and two samples 

 were labeled "Fresh Alaska." The last eight samples, because they were not lal eled 

 to .show the common name of the fish contained in the can, were in violation of the 

 I'\ I. I). No. 105 referred to above. 



All of the cans but one were labeled to show the net weight of fish in the can. Six- 

 teen per cent of them contained less than the declared amount of contents, but the 

 greatest shortage was but 3.1 per cent of the declared weight, while the greatest excess 

 in weight was 18.7 per cent of the declared weight. 'Ihe weight is usually stated 

 con.siderably under the actual amount of the contents. 



The amount of liquid in the cans is an important factor to consider in computing 

 the value of the contents. The free liquor in the cans examined varied widely from 

 3.95 per cent in sample number 15-209, labeled salmon steaks, to 26.54 per cent in 

 sample number 15-63, which was not lal)eled as to variety. As a rule, the largest 

 amount of free liquor is found in the lower priced grades, but there are exceptions, 

 notably number 15-70, which contained 24.14 per cent of free liquor. 



It will be noticed from the results given in the table that the amount of total moisture 

 varies inversely as the amount of fat (called ether extract in the table). That is, 

 salmon containing an excessive amount of moisture contains little fat, but those sam- 

 ples which contain tlie lower amounts of moisture contain the largest amounts of fat. 

 'Ihe protein content .«eems to be fairly constant in all samples, the average amount 



o Salmon Canning Industry of North America. Bv H. M. Loomis. Original communication-;, 

 Pvighth International Congress of Applied Uhemistrv, Washington and New York, Sept. 4 to 13, 1912, 

 Vol. XVIII, pp. 239-245. The Rumford Press, Concord, N. H. 



