CONCLUSIONS 



1. But four of the original bacteria inoculated into the cans were 

 recovered. 



2. The process time, according to this experiment, for one-half 

 pound flat cans of salmon should be between 75 and 90 minutes at 

 240° F. 



Discussion. 



Dr. E. E. Prince, Ottawa, Canada : This! paper interests practical 

 men because, when it is printed they will get the facts as to the time and 

 temperature at which to process fish products for the market. In Canada 

 we have done a good deal of work on the canned lobster, especially on what 

 is called the blackening of lobsters. You open a can of lobsters and observe 

 a very bad color, a black appearance with sometimes a bluish cast which 

 is not very presentable at the table. But the lobster itself may not be 

 really harmful as a food. It is mei-ely a case of a bacterium which spoils 

 the appearance and, of course, from a market point of view that is ex- 

 tremely important. From the food point of view it is less important. All 

 bacteria are not the same. It is a very important matter for the bacteri- 

 ologist to study minutely the various kinds of bacteria. From this paper we 

 learn that thirteen different kinds of bacteria were found in canned salmon, 

 yet I think we can lay it down as a general proposition that very rarely is 

 canned salmon dangerous as food. All fish, of course, contain bacteria, 

 and when the cans are filled and processed, these may or may not be killed. 

 As a rule they are killed. This paper shows that only four survived even 

 the comparatively low temperatures to which the author submitted them. 



In Canada Professor F. C. Harrison investigated blackened lobsters 

 last summer, and he found not thirteen, but I think about twenty-three, 

 different bacteria in them. A person studying bacteria wants to know 

 what the bacteria really do from a food point of view. 



Many present here will have been asked — I am sure the question has 

 been asked hundreds of times by various people— what effect parasites have 

 up( n the fish. In other words, when you find parasites in the flesh, skin, 

 stomach, or intestines of a fish, is that fish fit for food? On the whole, 

 I would say that no fish parasites are injurious to human beings. Every 

 parasite as a rule, has two hosts. The first host may be a bird, but the 

 second host is not a human being. If you find a parasite in fish its second 

 host is in some of the lower animals, frequently invertebrates, but not a 

 human being. In Italy some fish parasites are cooked by the Italians for 

 food. 



H6 



