BONED BEEF: THE GLASGOW CONDEMNATION

Otago Witness, Issue 2857, 16 December 1908, Page 6

BONED BEEF : THE GLASGOW CONDEMNATION

The condemnation of some 20,000 boxes' of • New Zealand boned "beef by the .Chfef Meat Inspector of Glasgow, last August, attracted great attention in the nieat trade in England and Scotland. The circumstances are not yet fully known, even at Home, but the incident is characterised as a grave scandal, and the Meat Trades Journal, London, has instituted a thorough investigation by scientists of the highest standing, and is publishing their' reports, the. first appearing in the issue of October 29. The Journal in introducing the report- expresses the hope that, having regard to all the circumstances, and the unfavourable way in which the facts were pre- 1 sented to the Glasgow Corporation, the New Zealand Government will see to it that the true history of the case will be officially communicated to that body. It is also stated that the place in which the meat was inspected — a room at the Moore N Street Slaughterhouse. Glasgow, known as the " condemned cell " — drew forth the remark " that it required cleaning and disinfecting," , N The report is by Drs David M'Crorie, Bacteriologist Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Lecturer on Bacteriology, St. Mungo's College,_-etc- ; and J. Archibald Campbell, Assistant Bacteriologist and Lecturer, etc., who, after describing how the specimens — 96 in number — were taken, proceed as follows :— Here a remark may be made on the method of obtaining the samples by the meat inspectors. The meat being .frozen and enclosed in boxes, the ordinary methods of examination are unavailable, so recourse is had to boring the cases with an auger, something after the nature of a. cheese scoop. This m-ethcd is most decidedly faulty and unscientific, as no effort is made to sterilise the auger after being used in each case. Ostertag (probably the most eminent authority on meat inspection) in his connection states: — "Whoever is unable to think bacteriologically and to operate according to the requirements of bacteriology grossly violates the elementary principles of hygiene daily. Persons who are unskilled bacteriologieally neglect the disinfection of knives with which they may have examined infections, alterations, etc.. and co artificially infect sound organs." This argument applies strongly to this case. "In th«f event of a. bad case being examined, the next case, and" a few others, can hardly escape being artificially infected. The examination ol this meat excluded the possibility of txiberculosis, as it was packed under Government veterinary control in New Zealand, and guaranteed -Jree from tuberculosis. - AU the viscera and, lymphatic glands which would yield evidence of tubercle had been removed. All the pathogenic organisms, with this exception, were kept under review, and it may be stated here and now that, in all cases, the meat -was free from pathogenio and pyogenic organisms. As to putrefactive germs, it is to be noted in the first plaoa that these organisms are never absent from ordinary dead meat which has been exposed for sale, as far as the superficial layers go. Jt is only when they multiply abundantly (a fairly rapid process, it must be admitted) that they become' a source of danger to human beings. In 13 out of the 96 specimens examined putrefactive organisms were found, and the> cases from which these specimens were taken had, without exception, been exposed * at atmospheric temperature for a considernblf rime in th 3 condemned cell before being returned to the cold storage, and -even in these cases they were not present in the abundance that you would find in. meat undergoing active "putrefaction. Noneof 'lie ca=c-s showed microscopic evidence of iHitrcfactivo change, with ihe possible* e*cvption of a roitiou of case XX, the property of Messrs , wlne'.i was mouldy at tlie sides. The oilier 83 specimens, even after 20 days' incubation at optimum temperature, were odourless, and gave not the slightest sign of putrefaction. This speaks highly for the condition of the meat when handled and picked to the point of slaughter. To examine meat bacteriologically is a. very severe test, as even the presence of a single micro-organism is easily demonstrable aftpr 24 hours' incubation. As the result of this investigation our conclusions are:— fl) That with one exception (case XX), -without doubt the contents of the other cases were fit for human food. (2) That the present methed of examination is unscientific, and must lead to error. The Glasgow correspondent of the Meat Trades Journal of same date states : " That the deputation from the United Fleshers' Society, which attended the conference in Edinburgh with the Local Government Board on the subject of boneless beef, returned well pleased with themselves, having received the assurance "of officials that the importation of this useful commodity will not be, entirely prohibited, but that more stringent regulations will be laid down as to the inspection, packing, etc., of thft same."