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101
This letter, while showing a desire on the part of the Chamber of Commerce
to meet the wishes of the Sanitary Committee, fell short of the necessities of
the situation.
It was understood at the Conference held on the 22nd March, 1907, that
there was a feeling that as sterilisation was not applicable to all classes of
tinned goods equally alike, a schedule should be drawn up of those it was
proposed to exempt. The Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce was therefore
asked in a letter, dated 7th June, 1907, at the instance of the Sanitary
Committee, to furnish them, for consideration at an early date, with a schedule
of foods it was proposed to exempt, and with regard to other tinned articles
that an undertaking be obtained from the Packers that they would adopt a
process which would result in complete sterilisation.
In reply thereto, in a letter dated 23rd July, 1907, the Committee was
informed that the Canned Goods Section of the Chamber of Commerce had
found it impracticable to make the Schedule of foods asked for, but that the
packers would give every consideration to the Representatives of the
Chamber.
It was also stated that copies of the Reports of the three bacteriologists had
been sent to the Local Government Board, who they considered should have
it before them, for information only and not for publication, during the
framing of any regulations the Board might make under the Public Health
(Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907.
In this connection I submit for consideration the general conclusion arrived
at by Major W. W. O. Beveridge, D.S.O., and Captain H. B. Fawcus of the
Royal Army Medical Corps, as the result of a series of exhaustive experiments
with preserved meat, contained in their Report to the Sub-Committee on
Food of the War Office Committee on the Physiological Effects of Food,
Training and Clothing on the Soldier.
(Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, March, 1908.)
"(a) The bacillus under consideration, although non-pathogenic to animals,
"decomposes tinned meats, and renders them quite unfit for consumption. There"fore
processes of sterilisation of tins of meat must be used which will destroy the
"spores of this bacillus. The optimum'temperature of growth of this bacillus is
"blood heat (370 C.) 99° F. At this temperature inoculated tins of meat become
"rapidly decomposed, but this decomposition is not necessarily made apparent at
"once by the presence of gas in the tin. Blowing of the tins often does not take
place within a fortnight, even at this temperature. Tins of meat contaminated
uwith the spores of this bacillus could be kept at temperatures of 22° C. (72° F.)
"and under for many months, without showing any signs of blowing. If, however,
"such contaminated tins, although apparently sound when examined in this country,
"were exposed to a temperature such as is likely to be met with in the Tropics, they
"would rapidly become decomposed.