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104
FOREIGN MEAT REGULATIONS.
SHEEP AND OX LIVERS.
On the 4th November last the Local Government Board directed attention
to the terms of the following Order which was stated to have been circulated
to the Meat Inspectors of the different packing houses in the United States:—
Certification of Edible Organs for Export.
"The Port Medical Officers at London, England, recently inspected
"on arrival 280 cases of ox livers and 300 cases of lamb livers, bearing the
"authorised American marks of inspection. About 20 per cent. of the
"lamb livers and about 30 per cent. of the ox livers were alleged to be
"diseased and were condemned because sections of the organs had been
"removed. In view of these circumstances Bureau Inspectors are
"directed in future not to certify for export edible organs, such as
"livers, which have been mutilated, or from which portions have been
" removed."
It is clear that all organs from which sections have been removed should be
rejected, the inference being that they were excised in order to remove
evidence of disease. The Board are of opinion that if the Order referred
to above is effective in practice and the offal from the United States is
satisfactorily packed in the manner indicated by their instructions, the
inspection of this material under the Foreign Meat Regulations will apparently
be facilitated.
PIGS' STOMACHS.
On the 5th November the Board further advised your Medical Officer that
consignments of pigs' stomachs, packed in salt, had been objected to in
Manchester for the double reason that they showed signs of gastritis (possibly
associated with epidemic swine erysipelas), and also because they were
imported without an official certificate. These "maws" were imported from
Hamburg and packed in rough salt. They were in barrels, which in the Bill
of Entry were stated to contain "sausage skins.''
The necessity for strict supervision over this class of imported meat was
shown on 12th October last when two barrels of pigs' stomachs, packed in
rough salt, consigned from abroad to a dealer in Bermondsey who sent them
to the Central Market, were seized on account of putridity.
It was stated that these stomachs were intended for use as casings for filling
with chopped meat and other ingredients, but no information as to what port
they came from was obtainable.
As it was possible that this term might be used to cover similar importations
in the City, the Customs Authorities were requested to detain any
uncertified pigs' stomachs or "sausage skins" which do not seem to justify
that description.