BONED BEEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13703, 20 March 1908, Page 6

BONED BEEF.

NEW ZEALAND TRADE THREATENED.

THE AUCKLAND EXPORTS. News has been received in Auckland of a movement at Homo which seriously threatens to result in the prohibition of the importation into England of boned beef from New Zealand. Boned hoof is an important article of export, and the trade means a good deal to New Zealand in more ways than might appear on the surface -, for instance, the export of boned beef affects the standard of dairy herds of New Zealand. What has happened at Home is that Dr. Buchanan, inspector of foods to the Local Government Board, has just issued a report dealing with imported meat foods of questionable wholesomeness. '•'his. report, is divided into three sections—(l) Imported boneless scrap meat, (2) imported pork in j relation to tuberculosis, and (3) with imported tripe, tongues, and kidneys, heavily dosed with boron and other preservatives. The first section is the only one that the present article is concerned with. Dr. Buchanan speaks of a considerable importation of meat packed in boxes, barrels, or oilier receptacles, which contain scraps, lumps, trimmings, and other portions of such size and. shape that they are not readily to be identified with definite portions of the dressed carcase. The pieces arc usually frozen into a. solid mass, and no inspection at Home can either detect tuberculosis or other disease, or unwholesome conditions of handling, chemical treatment, packing, etc., 'in the country of origin. He concludes that the admission of such meat into the United Kingdom appears to constitute a definite risk to health, and that it also hinders equitable administration of laws and regulations relating to unsound or diseased meat at Home, and says that " the amount of importation being at present small its prohibition would cause little interference with trade." Dr. Buchanan, dealing with the meat inspection law in New Zealand, curtly dismisses it with the remark that " the importation of scrap meat from that country is so small that detailed consideration of the precise significance of the inspection in regard to meat of this class is hardly needed." His description of "scrap" meat is distinctly unfair when applied to the Now Zealand product, and while the quantity of New Zealand boned meat may form a email proportion of the English meat trade, it represents a very important branch of the New Zealand export trade—in fact, boned beef represents quite two-thirds of. New Zealand's beef exports. Last year the Auckland Company put through 1454 head as "boners," so that the trade is evidently rapidly increasing. In view of the important question created a Hkp.ai.l) representative paid, a surprise visit of inspection to the freezing works at Glasgow, on the Otahuhu line, to see now the boned beef is handled. He found the most scrupulous cleanliness everywhere. The beef, after slaughtering and dressing, is subjected to a close and rigorous examination by a veterinary surgeon, appointed for that purpose by the Government. This officer particularly inspects the tongue, heart, lungs, liver, lymphatic glands-, and general body condition for tuberculosis or other disease, and anything showing the least trace of any disease is condemned. Any emaciated meat is also rejected. The Government officer is in attendance during the whole operation of the preparation of the meat."' No exception could (possibly have been taken by even the most fastidious to the whole process of handling the meat from the time of killing to the placbig of the boxes in the freezer. The whole I operation is carried out' under equally clean conditions to k the handling of the prime, qualities of meat for export, with the exception that the inspection was) if

anything, more rigid. .Such a thing its the packing of floor sweepings and the use of preservatives is unknown at the Glasgow works. Every box is stamped by the Government inspector's brand and his own • name, certifying the examination. When interviewed on the subject, Mr. H. G. Stringer, general secretary to the Freezing Company, strongly resented the description "scrap" meat, saying New Zealand boned beef was the whole of the flesh of the animals that were specially .slaugh- ! tered for the purpose of this trade. The inspectors were members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and if the English Local Government Board was not satisfied with the inspection of the meat, it was rather a poor compliment to the college. The prohibition of the honed beef trade, Mr. Stringer went on to say, would bare an effect that might not lx> thought of by the casual observer. The Government dairying division was doing its inmost to impress upon daily farmers the absolute necessity of carefully weighing and testing the yield of butter-fat from each cow, and of throwing out from the herds the cows that do no! give the required percentage. The cows which did not conic up to ! the test were sent to the works for boned i beef, andthat the farmers were taking the I advice of the experts was shown by the | increase in the boned beef output. The I dairy farmer had thus a market for un- ! profitable cows, but if that market were closed he would not be likely to apply such close teets to his herd, and simply shoot unprofitable cows. At present the farmer received 12s per 1001b foi cow beef, which worked out at from £3 to £5 per head. Dr. Buchanan, in his report, tays that in any case, if this meat is all rigid, it could be sent Home in quarters. When this question was put. to Mr. Stringer, fie replied, "What would quarters of dairy cows look like, hung up? Besides, Dr. Buchanan misses the great point in tho trade and that is the great economy. This beef cannot, under any pretence, bo called prime, but only to- ! day we were advised that, the quality is j perfectly satisfactory to the buyer. 'For | the bones we allow £4 a ton, and these are turned into manure, one of the most essential and expensive manures, and sent back on the land. The only freight charges are on the bare meat, while meat shipped in quarters takes more space and has to pay for the bone and fat. If the trade is so small as to be hardly noticeable at Home, why cut it out when we can prove that what we send is thoroughly fit for its purpose? They might ask why we cannot use it in New Zealand, but we can't, because the trade in minced meat, polonies, etc., for which this meat is used, is not sufficiently extensive to absorb the beef. This is one of those subjects in connection with which a conference of the freezing companies could do valuable work."