COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18184, 22 September 1924, Page 10

COMMERCIAL.

AN ENEMY OF VITAL PROCESSES. FORMALDEHYDE IN FOOD PRESERVATION. THE UNLET PROCESS. (raou oce ow" coKaESFOXDiKT.) LONDON, August 16.

Following up the condemnatory report of the Departmental Committee on the use of formaldehyde, with special reference to chilled beef, the medical correspondent of the "Morning Post" says tho report draws a lesson for the public from the very necessary processes of food preservation. It is that considerable risks are incurred unless those processes are properly controlled, and from time to time subjected to rigorous enquiry.

The preservation of food is as old as civilisation. Its first form, sterilisation by heat, was the origin of all cooking. With no knowledge of bacteriology, primitive man none the less discovered that many of his foodstuffs would not keep from day to day unless they were subjected to fire. With the extension of human activities came the need for thinking of food preservation not so much from day to day as from period to period, the intention being to preserve the fruits of the months of plenty to fill the gaps- of the months, ©f "scarcity. Furthermore, there was travelling, either by the individual or in groups, to be considered, and comparatively soon came the question of commissariat for military and naval expeditions. The drying, the smoking, and the fermenting of early times were rough expositions of chemistry, and the value of salt, especially in connexion with wood-smoke, was early perceived," though the chemical action of the smoke was, of course, unknown.

' Continual- Supervision Necessary. - To-day the preservation of food forms one of the world's great industries, and the use of heat, of refrigeration, and of chemicals has been enormously developed to meet the needs of civilisation. And with this development there has come danger. Formaldehyde, of which the definite prohibition as an addition to food or drink has been so warmly recommended by the Departmental Committee, is a strong antiseptic and disinfectant, and undoubtedly destroys germ s that would themselves be mischievous; but it is the enemy of all vital processes, and cannot bo content with doing merely antiseptic and disinfectant work, but goes on definitely to injure the ingest- 1 ing tissues. In short, we have here an example of the difficulty experienced in. obtaining surgical , cleanliness, namely, that the chemical means to kill the germ may fatally damage the subject. Other preservatives than formaldehyde (says the same writer), if used in ! the wrong way or in wrong proportions, may give similar unhappy results, so that it does not follow that modern learning, which has raised many processes; of preservation from empiricism to a scientific position, can be regarded as having produced safety, unless the processes are continually supervised in an all-round manner. For example the preservation. of food for use at long distances and after the expiration of long periods of time necessitates proper receptacles, and here danger may intrude. Glass and china receptacles are necessarily weighty and breakable,. so. that the merit of their resistance to acids has to be highly paid for—in fact many of the circumstances of transport rule out other than metal receptacles. These may be acted upon by acids, and, ajthough the salts formed may have little physiological action, nevertheless, they .constitute an impurity, and tneir presence in objectionable quantities can be prevented only by great care. As intercommunication spreads aver the world, and as processes of food preservation multiply, so the associated risks must grow. For the world ever pays a debt in proportion, to its increased sophistication.

An Experiment that Tailed. For the information of the committee, and in order, to demonstrate the feasibility of carrying chilled beef treated by the limey process, a firm of importers interested in the process arranged for a trial consignment to be sent to London from New Zealand, and oa April Ist, 1924, the consignment arrived at the . Port of London. A description of the experiment given in the report tells that under the treatment the cargo of meat showed progressive deterioration, and ultimately the experiment had to be discontinued. "When the hold was opened in London on April 3rd the beef was inspected hv the committee, who found that the quarters were frozen hard and there we're copious growths of mould upon them. The whole consignment was subsequently condemned by the Port Medical Officer as unsound and unfit for food, and was surrendered by the importer for destruction. In samples taken from the exposed surface"of muscular tissue of both hind and forequarters the amount of formaldehyde found was relatively small, but it is noteworthy that. traces were detected as deep as 30 millmetres from the surface of the meat, showing that formaldehyde penetrates into the meat with ease, and does not confine itself merelv t?'lf®. surface. The inventor ascribed the failure of the experiment to several vf 0 f ' of which were that the catttle had not been properly slaughtered, and that sufficient care was not m the subsequent dressing "and Tiandhn? of the carcases, that the"ment ivf r ot J** 11 properly hung, an d that ? J1 / 0r c '\ rculat »ng the air in the ha<s not been working effectively. FOOD DUTIES. REDUCTION IN FRANCE. (BT CiJU—PBES3 AS3OCIATIOK—COMIIMt) (RXVTXB'f TBLXaauiS.) PARIS, September 19. The Cabinet has decided to reduee the import duties on certain essential foodstuffs, including condensed milk, by 66 per cent.; on butter by 60 per cent.; and on cheese, barley, rice, and preeerved vegetables by 50 per cent. LAND SALES. Messrs H. Maiaon and Co. offered two country properties for sale on Saturday. There w«b a fair attendance. The Seaton . ISetate, on the Main Kirwee road, was flfiewd first. It ia 137 acres/ - divided into ' a cottage, « c v ~^ ue mnd ® dwr buildings. * r a ** th » Beaton familv ' 14 ™ £l3 ak * * JSL 2» P»Perty offered wa, 156 r 7 * Uo,L > * ad rt, ws»