UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



jru^'^TL 



BULLETIN No. 569 s 



Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry *' 



CARL L. ALSBERG, Chief 



j^fp^OL 



Washington D. C. 



June 25, 1917 



THE SANITARY CONTROL OF TOMATO-CANNING 



FACTORIES. 



By Burton J. Howard, Microscopist in Charge, in collaboration with Charles 

 H. Stephenson, Scientific Assistant, Microchemical Laboratory. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Conditions observed in several tomato- 

 canning factories 3 



Washing 8 



Sorting: 



Its importance 10 



Sorting systems 11 



Uniformity and rate of feeding 14 



Turning devices 15 



Lighting the sorting tables 16 



Sorters ;. .. 17 



Volume sorted :... 17 



Efficiency of sorting 18 



Sorting — Cont inued . 



Cost of sorting 



Trimming 



Pulping 



Pulp-making systems 



Promptness in handling stock. 

 Cleanliness in the factory: 



Its importance 



The necessary equipment . . 



Use of equipment 



Psychology of cleanliness . - 



Laboratory control 



Summary 



20 

 20 

 21 

 21 

 23 



24 

 25 

 25 

 26 



27 



28 



INTRODUCTION. 



Marked changes in machinery and methods for the manufacture of 

 food products have been made in the last 6 or 8 years under the 

 stimulus of Federal and State pure food and sanitary laws. The 

 manufacturer has come to appreciate the need for more sanitary 

 methods. Certain individuals, firms, and corporations, of their own 

 initiative, have blazed a path out of questionable or unsanitary sur- 

 roundings in advance of Federal or State laws imposing such re- 

 forms. Much credit is due manufacturers of this type who are willing 

 to improve their methods of manufacture regardless of the existence 

 or nonexistence of laws making such improvements imperative. At 

 the other extreme is that small class of manufacturers who are in- 

 different to the character of their product, either from the standpoint, 



100635°— Bull. 569—17 1 



