EXPERIMENTS WITH FROZEN FOOD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2456, 17 April 1901, Page 5

EXPERIMENTS WITH FROZEN FOOD.

SOME EXPRESSIONS OF OPINION. The proposal which was made in January by Cold Storage Ifas aroused no little mterett, and in response to their invitation they have received a number of communications, and doubtless more wjuld have ccme to hand had not public events driven all save piessing matters from men's minds. However, they print a few of the opinions that the suggestion evoked in their February 2'sue. Dr Samuel Ridcal ib the author not only of the report on New Zealand mutton, but pl^o of another dealing vuth Queensland beef, American chilled ox beef, and .English ox beef, iv\ich Sir Henry Norman, whtn Agent gei.eial foi Queensland, took caip to circulate, for it placed the Queensland pioduct in a very favourable po c ition. '1 .'G analyst's experiments on this occasion v. rre on a laigcr >ui'o. He lepoited that the differences observed on microscopical examination vvcie lv.oie piobably due u> -variation in the animaL fuiai^luag the meat than to the methods adopted, for prccerviiig thorn. Ai to digestibility, Dr Eideal stated. ""The total differences obscned are so slight that I am of the opinion these results do not warrant one in concluding that the differences in the methods of preservation have modified the digestibility of the meat in any way." The report concluded with the word';: "I can therefore confidently a=-=ert that, both with regard to digestibility and for the preparation of soup 3or beef tea, the hard-frozen meat has intunsically the l ?me value as that which has been chilled or freshly killed." This gentleman declared himself to be strongly of opinion that the time had come for decisive tests of frozen food to be made. For one reason, the action of bacteria on meat is more fully understood than it was a few years back, and no systematic mvc-'i-gation had been made since the newer methods of defrosting had been introducer. Moreover, all experiments hitherto nad no*been wide enough in scope. In nnv trills different kind? of meat should be exunmed, after hanging for various period-. Dr Rideal also called attention to experiments made by Professor Armand Gautier towards the end if 1897 on behalf of the Mmiotei foi Wai, and in 1880 and 1890 for tin municipality of Paris. They were made on meat that h?d been cold-stored for &ix months at a temperature of 15deg C. below zero, and had been brought from Buenos Ayres. The meat had been .inspected by the sanitary inspector at Havre, and in accord-

ance with the usual custom lie had affixed the leaden seal certifying it 3 quality. The eating tests, in which several persons tasted samples of cooked frozen and fresh meat, resulted in an equal verdict for both kinds. The chemical tests to which the frozen meat wa3 pat by Professor Gautier confirmeel the report of the Service de Sante de l'Armee. who stated that " meat preserved by cold is just as nutritive as fresh meat" — i-nt r.oo only "the taste and culinary vV'ie of frozen meats were intact, but that ny accident and no poisoning need be feared from their use." Mr Otto Hehner's view is that "(Jiere is absolutely no difference in the food value of fre*h meat and cold-stored meat, that nothing but prejudice can assert the contrary, that there is not one scintilla of evidence that, a loss of nutriment or injurious alteration in the food substance can take place in cold store. I do not think that experiments to establish this are necessary, but if there are any doubting persons open to conviction, experiments for their satisfaction could easily be carried out." Profe=sor D. Vieth, of the Milch wirtschaftliolaPo Institut, Hameln. is of opinion that ''it is a matter for the physiologist, and no: for the chemist and dairy expert, to decide whether comparative experiments of tin 1 nature mentioned should be carried out. Such expeiiments, if carried out on a wellc'?*/i«ed plan, would be highly interesting-, no doubt. But, r.s far as I can judge, the matter is bristling with difficulties, and I should not expect that a final decision would be arr.ved at." _Ue"-sis Bucko]!, King, and Co. (Limited),, of Nottinchu.m, write: — "We believe experiments, if conducted on proper lines, should be of benefit to the trade in general. Wer« the preiudices eliminated from the mind of the public respecting cold stored goods, they w.miu in general be scarcely able to detect; any d Terence between the fresh and the fiozfeii for-d. In our own trade we have madf it a practice, whenever new frozen. poods \<n\ c come to hand, to place them on (,(ir n * n tibio so as to be able to speak as to i' i rpcrits or demerits of the same ta cur customers."