QUALITY OF MEAT

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 112, 8 November 1920, Page 8

QUALITY OF MEAT

MR. HOLLAND'S CHARGES

AN OFFICIAL REPLY.

.The charges made by Mr. Holland (Buller) recently with reference to the quality of the meat slaughtered for the local market and that shipped abroad were the'subject of a statement made in the House of Representatives to-day by tho Minister of Agriculture (Hon. 1 W. Nosworthy), and embodying the contents of an official report. : The report stated that Mr. Holland must have been misinformed as to rats nesting in carcases of frozen meat, as this was impossible owing to the temperature at which the meat was kept in the freezing chambers. It was true that i. few carcases from Gisborne were found to have been gnawed by rats, and' had been refused shipment. Animals attacked by tuberculosis in its early stages wheji the portions affected were isolated by a natural protective covering were acctpted by all authorities as quite fit for human consumption. This was agreed upon by' all authorities, and the standard demanded in this respect was higher in New Zealand than in any other part of the world. Where tuberculosis was present in any degree so as to render it dangerous the whole carcase was invariably condemned. Old bulls and rams, though often unpalatable, were not unfit for human food. Loan animals were at once condemned iFthey reached a stage which might be termed emaciation, but lean meat otherwise was quite fit for human consumption. The reflections contained in Mr. Holland's statements were"quite unwarranted, as the requirements both with regard, to the quality of the meat and the freedom from disease were very much more szvere in New Zealand than in any other country. This statement was made after comparing New Zealand methods with those in American and British slaughterhouses. . ;

The Minister said that the .questions placed on the Order Paper- by Mr. Hoi--land would be investigated and a com; pete answer' given in due course. ; . Mr. Holland" said he would prove every statement made if he were given 'a commission. -

The Minister said that he wojild take every precaution to have the statements .still further inquired into. The Prime Minister said that the matter was too serious'to be allowed to stop here. It was quite certain that the statement would be quoted in Great Britain by clever business men engaged in the meat trade and anxious to disparage the quality of' the; New : . Zealand produce. He intended to confer with the Minister of Agriculture with a view^ to having the matter brought before Cabinet, with the object of having an exhaustive inquiry made.