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inspector. All unsound canned goods are put on one side and subsequently
destroyed. The tins are afterwards spiked to render it impossible to use them
for human food.
This examination is not confined to foodstuffs recently landed. The food
inspector periodically goes through the wharf warehouses, and if any of the
stored goods are suspected to be unsound, they are examined. In this way
canned goods that have possibly been on the wharves for years are subjected
to the ordinary examination which is carried out on landing. Some of the
tins are taken for the purpose of making a chemical examination of their
contents.
This examination and its results is dealt with in detail in another report
which was submitted to the Public Health Committee in June last.
The latter report however does not contain much reference to frozen meat.
The amount landed this year on the wharves is less than in previous years.
A large percentage of meat sold in butchers shops is foreign stuff.
The trade in frozen meat has of recent years attained enormous dimensions.
Various causes have contributed to this result, but the improved methods
adopted, together with the increased facilities of transit, are among the most
important factors.
There are several ways of preserving meat by means of low temperatures.
In the first method, the carcase is exposed to a temperature at, or below the
freezing point of water, whilst in another method the meat is kept at a
temperature somewhat above 0°C.
It is not an easy matter for an untrained person to distinguish frozen or
refrigerated meat from fresh meat, when the former has been thawed, and is
exposed in the shops for sale.
Certain changes take place which render its detection possible.
In refrigerated meat the fat is pink owing to the stain of the lean meat
which escapes. The outside portion will present a " dead " appearance when
compared with the lustre seen on the outside of good fresh meat. The dressing
also is not so clean and neat as in English dressed meat. The vertebrae or
bones of the back are usually sawn, and not chopped through. The hindquarter
usually contains three ribs instead of one, the forequarter being
shortened proportionately.