ELECTRIFIED BEEF

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 75, 31 March 1937, Page 14

ELECTRIFIED BEEF

New Zealand beef exporting interests may be interested to learn of the arrival at Smithfleld, during March, of an experimental shipment of Argentine beef carried under a system patented by the Smithfield and Argentine Meat Company, Ltd.. • The system of carriage comprised the passing of an electric current through the quarters to prevent the formation of ice crystals in the muscular tissues, and the holding of the meat at the usual chilled temperatures. The trial consignment consisted of twelve quarters, which were shipped in the Andalucia Star, being 21 days on the voyage. Since these quarters were placed in the same hold as the other meat, they were kept at the usual 29.5deg Fahr., but it has been pointed put that 28deg Fahr. is the most suitable temperature for future shipments. Stainless steel electrodes were inserted into the shank and into the end of the chine, and a current passed through the quarter. The current was just sufficient to prevent the removal of the latent heat from the beef, and thus stopped the formation of ice crystals.