QUALITY FIRST

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 106, 7 May 1934, Page 10

QUALITY FIRST

OUR EXPORTED PRODUCE

PRESERVATION IN TRANSIT

(By Telegraph)

(Special to the "Evening Post.")

AUCKLAND, May 6.

The fact that. the exporting future of, New Zealand will be governed by quality and not by the quantify of her products, the* increasing importance of chilled shipments, and the discovery that moulds are, apart from putrefactive bacteria, the chief destructive factor in al' stored foodstuffs, were discussed by Mr. JVC. Neill, field mycologist at the plant research station at Palmcislon North prior to joining the Trojan Star on his way to England and the Continent, where.ho will make special inquiries into the conditions in which New Zealand products arrive. "Wo have been fortunate in liuiling methods for the control of diseases which have been of 'economic importance all over 'the world," said Mr. Neill, "and, in addition,' for the past three years we have been - studying mould fungi which have caused deterioration in chilled beef, cheese, butter, bacon, and other stored food products. Mould grows very slowly on the passage to England, but-when the meat is taken out at the other end it appears with great, rapidity. .It is not actually poisonous, but it spoils the appearance, of meat and affects the price. It is the same with other chilled products. . .

"The purpose of my trip Home is to inquire' how deterioration can' bo prevented, and I will have an opportunity of - consulting Home experts so as to lie able to advise in New Zealand how it can be prevented," said Mr. Neill. "It is at. the New Zealand end that the damage starts. Chilled products are stored in an atmosphere which contains 10 to 12 .pcr1 cent, of carbon dioxide gas. That method may help, but it can never be so effective as precautionary and sanitary methods up to the time the N meat is loaded in New Zealand."