Foods and Their Adulteration: Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and RegulationsWiley, Harvey Washington
Science
Foods and Their Adulteration: Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations
Wiley, Harvey Washington
Food; Food adulteration and inspection
None of the samples contained saltpeter. This is an interesting point
because of the claim of the packers that saltpeter is used solely for
preservation purposes. When a meat is expected to be of a white color
no saltpeter is found while, on the contrary, where the meat is of a
red character it is frequently found. Tin was present in four samples,
doubtless due to some contamination with the solder or by corrosion
of the tin can itself. Where tin is present due to the corrosion of
the can itself it is always in greater abundance in the old than in
the newly canned sample. It is quite certain that the contents of
these packages were not made up of chicken and turkey exclusively. The
characteristic odor and taste of smoked meats which are found in these
packages would indicate that they are used to give flavor and aroma
to the mixture. The addition of flavoring materials of this kind, or
“force” meats as they are sometimes called, is not objectionable from
any sanitary or dietetic point of view. It is, however, an offense
against an ethical principle which must be closely followed in a case
of this kind if the doors of fraud and adulteration are not to be left
wide open. This principle is that no false idea by inference, omission
or otherwise, should be conveyed to the consumer by the label. Some
form of expression for potted meat should be used in which the label
gives the principal or dominant meat in the mixture, accompanied by
the statement that it is a mixture with other meats also named, spiced
and flavored. Under the present condition of affairs a manufacturer
who really wishes to put into potted form chicken and turkey with
only spices and condiments has to undergo an unfair competition with
another manufacturer who uses the same label and reduces the quantity
of expensive meat to a minimum or may possibly leave it out altogether.
Under the new food law this unfair competition will be prevented.
_Adulteration of Chicken._--The flesh of chicken is not subjected
to any very extensive adulterations. It has been claimed that
preservatives are applied externally to fresh fowls but the evidence
on this point is not very conclusive. There is, perhaps, little doubt
that other methods have been practiced but probably without any very
great vogue. The use of chemical preservatives in potted chicken is
also reprehensible. In general it may be said that there is no very
extensive adulteration of chicken meat. The principal objection to the
commerce in preserved chicken meat is the use of old chickens, the
unlimited cold storage, the failure to draw at time of slaughter, and
exposure in the market in an unsanitary condition and for an indefinite
time. Cheaper meats are sometimes substituted for the genuine article
in potted chicken. Turkey and pork are said to be used in chicken salad.
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