PIG PRODUCTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21253, 5 August 1932, Page 5

PIG PRODUCTS

TRANSPORT FROM DOMINION [from OCR OWN correspondent] LONDON, June 80 Reference is mado in the Report of the Empire Marketing Board to experiments at the Cambridge Low Temperature Research Station with pig products. Imports from Australia and Now Zealand, the report says, can bo treated in two ways. In the first place, frozen pork can be exported for the pork market or for the manufacture of bacon, in this country. A large-scale experiment has shown that bacon of good quality can be mado from frozen pork, and that any defects which may arise can ustfally be traced to deterioration of the frozen pork during storage, rather than to the effects of freezing and thawing. Within the last few years an increasing amount of frozen pork has been successfully used for the manufacture of bacon in this country, and considerable quantities of frozen pork are now Jrnportcil annually for this purpose and for tho pork market. In. 1931 New Zealand sent 121,803cwt„ and Australia 85,805cwt. of frozen pork to Great Britain. It has been suggested that, instead of exporting frozen pork, it might be advisable for Australia and New Zealand to export mild-cured bacon in the green condition, i.0., unsmoked. This, ho\vevor, has proved to be unsatisfactory,, Owing to the risk of spoilage by the superficial growth of micro-organisms, it would be necessary to freeze the bacon and transport it at 14deg. F. Large-scalp experiments have shown that by freezing at —22deg. F., and storing at 14deg. F., the lean of mildoured bacon can be kept in excellent condition, even after five months' storage, but that the fat will become rancid oven when the storage lasts for only six weeks. This is due to tho fact that the fat of bacon continues to take up oxygon even when frozen. It has been shown that the fat of smoked bacon keeps better than that of unsmoked bacon, but rancidity develops even in smoked bacon after it has been stored for nine weeks at I4deg. F. Thus, the' transport of mild-cured, green bacon in the frozen condition from Australia and New Zealand cannot be carried out successfully by ordinary commercial methods. Other methods, however, are being investigated.