On the Land

Southland Times, Issue 22999, 19 September 1936, Page 14

On the Land

DISEASE-FREE BACON. In a recent issue of The Southland Times there appeared an interview with two visitors in which they complained of the lack of control by health authorities in supervising the killing of pigs in many parts of the South Island. There can be no denying the fact that pigs are killed and marketed under somewhat haphazard methods in Southland. Farmers kill sheep for their own consumption and most of them know whether the animal is healthy or not. The same applies in a certain degree to pigs, but it has happened in the past, and still does happen, that pigs are slaughtered on farms, the carcasses sent to Invercargill to be turned into bacon and hams and the farmer later advised that his pig was not fit for human consumption. But how often are killed and home-cured and then sold in the roll? That has been a common practice as many country storekeepers have found to their cost. Bacon has gone rancid on their hands and has had to be thrown away, but when quick sales have been effected it is probable that bad bacon has been passed on to the unsuspecting public.

The farmer is not allowed to kill beef or mutton for sale unless it is certified fit for human consumption and there seems to be no reason why the same law should not apply to bacon; in the public interest it should be enforced. The risk of contamination cannot be overstressed in these days when the fight is being waged against tuberculosis and other diseases. There is also another side to the question. The Dominion is steadily building up an export trade in bacon as the Meat Board’s figures show. For the 1935-36 season 451,044 porkers and 214,988 baconers were killed for export in comparison with 423,176 and 152,779 respectively last season. Supervision of farm killings would do much to eradicate unhealthy stock and ensure a uniformity in the quality of bacon in New Zealand. This could not fail to enhance our reputation on a market where competition is very keen. The matter could be dealt with by the health authorities, whose officers could carry out an inspection or the pigs could be killed under the system prevailing for sheep and cattle which are sold by butchers. It would seem that some form of inspection is necessary in the interests of public welfare.