PRESERVATION OF FOODS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1932, Page 7

PRESERVATION OF FOODS

INVESTIGATION IN BRITAIN

. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORK. £1,000,000 A DAY IMPORTED FOODS. ADVICE TO THE DOMINIONS. British Wireless. Rugby, Aug. 9. Experiments for the preservation ot the flavour, freshness and vitamin value of food under refrigeration and their importance to the United Kingdom, whose imports of food still cost £1,000,000 daily, are dealt with in the report for 1931 of the Food Investigations Board of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. * The work is being aided by a consultative group of representatives of the Dominions and India, the Colonial Office, Empire Marketing Board and shipping interests, and £50,000 yearly, equivalent to the cost of one hour’s imports of foodstuffs to the United Kingdom, is being spent on research which covers fruit, meat, fish, dairy produce and canning. Experiments show that the transport to the United Kingdom of unsmoked mild-cured bacon from Australia and New Zealand is impracticable under existing commercial conditions, . but frozen pork can be successfully shipped and used as pork or for the manufacture of bacon.

It is anticipated that imports from the Dominions to the United Kingdom of animal tissues for the preparation of medicinal products can be largely increased.

Experiments are also being conducted with new methods of gas storage, already successful with apples, and for tho prevention of mould growths on oranges by the introduction of ammonium bicarbonate crystals into the storage chamber.