COMMERCIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 15 
|. softened and broken if it is continued for a number of days. The writer has seen peas 
| stacked that were warm for three weeks after packing. Tomatoes become soft and 
pulpy, and often turn a walnut brown if stacked hot and the heat is retained. All 
fruits become murky and lose their distinctive flavor and odor. Canned foods will 
stand the high temperature of summer very well, but as far as possible they should not 
be placed in the hot sun nor kept in a very hot storeroom. The effect of moderate 
heat is not nearly so marked as might be expected. 
Cold seems to have no ill effects upon canned goods unless it goes below the freezing 
point. Most canned foods will stand a little freezing without appreciable change. 
Repeated freezing and thawing cause the goods to become flabby and give a flat taste. 
In all cases the interior of the cans showsa distinct attack upon the tin. With fruits 
the coating of the cans is made to appear as though it were galvanized. Canned foods 
will resist a fair degree of heat or cold without serious injury, but continued heat or a 
_yery high temperature or repeated freezing and thawing, will cause deterioration in 
quality. 
__ Foods properly prepared and kept under reasonably good conditions deteriorate very 
_ slowly, so that cans carried from one year to another may be as good as, or better than, 
the latest pack, depending upon the comparative quality of the fresh product used. 
On general principles, however, it is desirable that a product should not be carried 
over several seasons. The amount of tin dissolved also increases with time, which is 
an additional reason for not holding canned goods any longer than is absolutely 
necessary. 
COST OF CANNED FOODS COMPARED WITH FRESH. 
In making a comparison of the cost of canned and fresh products of the same kind, 
a number of factors must be taken into consideration. First, the cost of the raw 
_ material and the waste when purchased in the small quantity used in a single meal; 
second, the cost of labor and preparation used in making it ready for the table. It 
is obvious that a comparison can not be made for time, as the canned article may 
_ be had throughout the year and the fresh for only a limited season, and purchase 
of a product out of season is usually at a high cost. In making a purchase of either 
the fresh or canned article, the smaller the quantity, the higher the price; food 
bought by the single can costs more than if bought by the dozen cans or case, as 
does the half peck of apples compared with the bushel or barrel. Take, for example, 
a No. 3 and a No. 10 can of whole apples; the former usually retails for 10 cents and 
the latter for 25 to 30 cents. Those who can use the latter have a decided advan- 
tage, as it will contain between four and five times as much as the former. 
There is a vast difference in canned foods, and, as in many other lines of commerce, 
the cheapest in price is often the most expensive. The can of water-packed tomatoes, 
the green hard pears, the handful of berries in a pint of water, or poor-quality beans 
_ disguised with tomato dressing and offered at a low price, when measured by their 
food value are the highest. Goods which are strictly standard should give the best 
food value for the cost. Peas, corn, beans, and tomatoes which are good field run, 
but which lack the uniformity and niceties which are necessary for the fancy article, 
will have all the nutritive properties, and be just as palatable, but cost several cents 
less per dozen. There is much that is pure fad in the purchase of canned foods; 
the asparagus must be white and the fewest possible stalks in a can; the green is 
just as good and a medium number of stalks furnish a more edible product. The 
- little peas are, naturally, the costly ones, for less than 5 per cent are of that kind; 
the large ones are the better flavored and more nutritious, and one-third the cost. 
Similar examples might be cited of a number of other products. Canned foods 
should be purchased by the dozen or case, straight or in mixed lots, rather than by 
single cans. ; 
