CHILLED BEEF.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 April 1924, Page 4

CHILLED BEEF.

NEW ANTISEPTIC PROCESS. LONDON. March 3. Air I’. vS. Forsyth (London representative of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board) and a number of 'prominent members of the meat trade, came together recently to witness the result of a test in keeping beef chilled .or a bug neriod after the carcase had been Dented with an innocuous antiseptic. Four ouarters of hoof were cut up and examined for their condition. Two of the quarters had been kept at a temperature varying from 32deg. to 41 deg. F. in a small machine-cooled refrigerator in a London office. In this cold chamber the temperature had purposely been kept fairly high and oscillating, so as to provide a fairly severe test The trial was to see how long the meat would keep -u a chilling temperature after having been*treated with the process in question, which is understood to consist of Hushing the arteries of the meat immediately postmortem with the special antiseptic employed. The chamber had been sealed under observation, and the temperature records taken in duplicate by an ordinary thermometer observed, through a door in the chamber, and by a self-recording thermometer. The day of opening of the chamber was just 73 days after slaughter, which had been undertaken under ordinary trade conditions, and followed by antiseptic tientment. and the man handling >n store, where it had been unwrapp'd. The extreme length of storage had, it appeared to the observers, wrought t certain amount of surface mildew contamination, a hnunless feature unattended, as was pointed oil! and cpnfrmed, by any trace of black spot, a damage that extends under the surface, and cannot he wiped off like the harmless mould.

The other two quarters of a beast killed ami similarly treated were held in store for 26 days at a level temperature of 82deg. F.. and were found perfectly sound, having no trace of any mould at all on their surface.