CANNED ROAST BEEF. 



1433 



The Secretary of Agriculture has been empowered by Congress to 

 cause a systematic test of preserved substances to be made in the 

 Bureau of Chemistry with a view to determining their physiological 

 properties. Unfortunately it has been impossible to undertake this 

 work on account of the lack of an appropriation to carry it out. 



CANNED BOAST BEEF. 



For the sake of comparison the composition of 5 samples of fresh 

 beef is given in Table 11. Four of these samples are or interest 

 because of the fact that they were used in the preparation of canned 

 roast beef (see p. 1377, et seq.}, and the composition of the latter has 

 also been determined. Unfortunately, with the exception of No. 18968, 

 the fats in these samples were not separated, and no data regarding 

 them are given. It will be observed that the percentage of meat 

 bases is materially higher in fresh beef than in the various canned 

 products. This is to be expected, since in the preparation of roast 

 beef the meat receives a preliminary boiling for a period lasting from 

 fifteen minutes to one hour, while corned meat in its preparation is 

 soaked continuously for three or four weeks in a brine and then boiled 

 with repeated portions of water before canning. The meat bases, 

 being soluble in water, are to some extent removed in this manner. 

 For further information on this subject see pages 1377 to 1390. 



The figures obtained in the examination of the fats separated from 

 roast and boiled beef (Table 30) differ in some respects from the figures 

 ordinarily published for beef fat. This is probably due to the manner 

 of preparing the fat and is not altogether unexpected. The melting 

 point is somewhat lower and the iodin number in several cases higher 

 than might be expected. These peculiarities must be considered in 

 using the results of the fat examination for the purpose of distin- 

 guishing the variety of meat present. It is to be regretted that the 

 amount of fat obtained was often insufficient for as complete an exam- 

 ination as might be desired. 



The extremes of the samples examined are as follows: 



MEAT. 



