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103
The Regulations of 1908 do not require that bacon and ham, or certain
salted parts of the carcase of a pig which are prepared in a manner comparable
to that in which bacon or ham are prepared, should necessarily be attested
by an "official certificate" in evidence of approved inspection in the country
of origin as a condition of their importation for human food. In the case
of uncertified packages containing pigs' heads and other salted products,
however, the meat has on several occasions been found to show evidence
of tuberculosis or other disease conditions. In other cases the lymphatic
glands, which would naturally be present in the portions of the salted
carcase, have been removed before importation in such a way as to suggest
that the object of such removal has been to conceal the fact that they
were affected by disease, or to prevent any attempt to discover the existence
of disease on arrival in this country.
In regard to these salted articles the Amending Regulations apply to any
severed part of the carcase of the pig which is not contained in a package
bearing an "official certificate" in the definition of "Foreign Meat of Class I."
if the lymphatic glands about such part are not present in their natural
position.
The stomachs or "maws" of pigs are sometimes imported, in brine or
packed in salt, for human consumption.
The Amending Regulations include any salted part of the pig which is not
a severed part of the carcase in the definition of "Foreign Meat of Class I." if
it is not imported in a package which bears an " official certificate."
Foreign bacon, ham, and salted pig products will be detained by Customs
Officers on receipt of an intimation from the Medical Officer of Health that
he desires to examine salted pig products which arrive from some specified
country or port of shipment, or particular consignments of such meat; and
your Medical Officer of Health; has accordingly requested Customs Officers
in the City to notify him of the importation of any salted pigs stomachs and
hog casings arriving from the Continent.
The Amending Regulations also include any meat which comprises the ribs,
but which on importation is ascertained to be without the pleura in the
category of "Foreign Meat of Class I." This will restrict the importation of
meat, especially beef, in the form of carcases, or portions of carcases from
which the pleura or lining membranes of the thorax have been stripped, such
removal of the pleura having been frequently practised in order to conceal
evidence of disease conditions.
These Amended Regulations will be most useful in preventing danger to
the public health arising from the importing of the several kinds of meat
foods referred to therein.