1432 FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



the description of the various classes of meats, but it may be of interest 

 to repeat them here. 



In the preparation of corned beef, some packers state that they find 

 it necessary to add some preservative to the curing brine in order to 

 obtain a uniform and satisfactory product. It is said that such addi- 

 tion is especially advantageous in warm, damp weather. 



Packers who prepare canned corned beef commonly employ for 

 canning the same product which they put on the market in bulk. 



The canners who do not cure their own meat, but purchase it already 

 prepared, often secure, without intending it, a product cured with the 

 aid of borax of sulphites. 



Preservatives found in dried or smoked beef may be due to one of 

 two causes first, to the use of a preservative in the curing brine which 

 is employed preliminarily to smoking it; second, to the addition of a 

 preservative directly to the meat before canning. We are informed 

 that it is impossible to preserve chipped dried beef in cans in its own 

 color without adding a small amount of some preservative, such as 

 boric acid. Meat without such addition, it is claimed by the packers, 

 will become darker and of inferior appearance. For this reason it is 

 claimed that this article is not a commercial possibility without such 

 addition. 



In regard to sausages, it may be said that exactly the same article is 

 canned that is sold in bulk, and it is claimed by manufacturers that a 

 small amount of some chemical preservative is necessary to keep sau- 

 sage which is not put up in hermetically sealed receptacles from decay 

 for the length of time demanded by commerce. 



The presence of preservatives in potted meats, deviled meats, and 

 pates is due, in most cases, to the use in their preparation of either 

 pork or beef cured in brine containing chemical preservatives. 



Of the samples reported in this bulletin 290 were of American prep- 

 aration, and 69 were imported from abroad. Of the total number 

 12.8 per cent were artificially preserved. 



Of the 290 meats of American manufacture, 18 samples, or 6.2 per 

 cent, were preserved, while 28 samples, or 40.6 per cent, of the 

 imported meats contained chemical preservatives. 



It should be said in this connection that the amount of preservative 

 found was not excessive in any instance. 



We recognize the commercial importance of securing a harmless 

 preservative for certain kinds of food, but the evidence concerning the 

 physiological properties of the preservatives most commonly employed 

 is very conflicting, and until further investigations are made we do 

 not feel warranted in expressing an opinion favorable to any of 

 them. They certainly should only be added to foods that are plainly 

 marked in such a way as to inform the purchaser as to the preservative 

 contained. 



