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On the 11th January, the s.s. "Kia Ora," from New Zealand, arrived in
the Royal Albert Dock, having on board 176 cases of frozen soles. It was
not possible to examine the fish without first thawing it out. Five cases
were first thawed, and as a result of the examination of these it was decided
to thaw out the whole consignment. The contents of fifty cases were found
unfit for human food and were destroyed.
From Messrs. W. Weddel and Co.'s Review of the Frozen Meat Trade
for 1909, I append the following particulars which will give some conception
of the large quantities of frozen meat imported into this country through the
Port of London. There is in addition large quantities of fresh meat arriving
from France, Belgium and the Netherlands:—
The total number of carcasses of sheep and lamb imported into the
United Kingdom from all sources during the past year is recorded and
totals 11,067,152. Of these 7,429,152 == 67*12 per cent, came into the
Port of London.
The aggregate number of quarters of beef, frozen and chilled
was 8,223,135. Of these 1,171,927 = 36*35 per cent, arrived in the
Port of London.
IMPORTATION OF PIGS FROM CHINA.
On July 24th, the s.s. "Palermo," arrived from China with a general cargo
comprising 4,663 pig carcasses, pigs' casings and bladders, chickens, ducks,
mallards, plover, bustards, pigeons, geese, snipe, teal, cockerels and hares.
The importation of pigs from China had received considerable publicity in
the press, and from questions asked in Parliament, chiefly owing to the
apprehension that these pigs might be the wild variety which frequents the
streets and public places of Chinese towns, living as scavengers on the food
they can pick up in that way. The importer stated that the pigs in question
had been bred in the country and fed on rice, and the President of the Local
Government Board appears to have confirmed this statement by reference to
the British Consul at Hankow. The pig carcasses on arrival were found to
be very large and fat, and each one had a label attached to it which indicated
that it had been subjected to a medical examination at the port of shipment.
It has been stated that Chinese pigs are very prone to contain the parasite
which gives rise to the condition known as Trichinosis. I therefore selected
100 pigs at random and removed portions of the diaphragm and other
muscular tissues, and examined the same microscopically without, however,
finding anything which was at all indicative or suspicious of Trichinosis.