WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 26 May 1930, Page 7

WELLINGTON NEWS

SUNSHINE AND FOOD

,Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, May 23

According to trade reports from liiitain re.-.earea into toe uses of ultraviolet rays has revealed the effect oi tlmse rays upon the nutritiie value oi toot! stuffs, it lias been lound that the v.tannu t_onteus ol foods nioduced in Jam.s of sun,dime is cons.derably greater than in less favoured lands, in the case of wheat, fruits, meat etc., the action of the ultra-violet rays is o, course direct, while with milir, butt . ter, cheese et ~ the incieased nutritive value is imported directly a,s a result oi the effects of the rays upon the cows, and indirectly,through the beneficial action of the rays upon the pastures upon which they graze. In tounj tries such as Austialia where the butter and cheese producing areas enjoy 12 months of .sunshine every year and c-ows are able to lie pasture fed the whole year round, the average v.tamin contents of these products arc much greater than those or Denmark, for instance, where the cows have to be stall fed for several months in the year. During the summer months in Britain, however, milk products reach a very high standard owing to the singularly, rich pasture lands there, but in li e winter months when outdoor grazing is not possible, it is fortunately the most productive season in Australia, the period when the milk products of that continent possess the greatest nutritive value. Hen e Britain is favoured with having an all the-year-round supply of these items of food well above the average in vitamin content. Moreover it lias been ascertained that the vitamins container! in foodstuffs are in no way impaired by journeys in cold storage from as far as Australia and New Zealand.

BRINE FREEZING PROCESS

A discovery which it is believed will play an important part in the development of British trade with other countries in the'importation of chilled beef and mutton has been made by Mr A. E. Sherman :jjnd Mir P. Lavender of Manchester. According to “Ice and Cold'Storage” the invention consists of a special process of sterilized brine freezing, and this is the first time scientific methods have been employed in Britain for the preservation of fish caught by trawlers which hitherto' have carried with them 40 .to 50 tons of ice when setting out for a three weeks’ trawl. The process has been highly praised by Prof. Drummond of the University College, London, and by Mr C. Townsend, one of the principal officials of the Hobson Bay Coy. -who have inspected the apparatus which was recently installed on a trawler at Fleetwood. This is regarded as disrovery, especially ps it has beon proved that the tissues

of the fish are not affected in the slightest degree, so that the flavour and the maximum ihod values are retained. Under this process the fish was gutted and washed in sterilized sea water immediately after being landed on the deck of the trawler. It unis then put into tanks and sprayed with sterilized hr no for about 10 minutes in a very low temperature. The tanks were then flooded. Small fish were frozen in L) minutes and the bigger fish in loss than an hour. Afterwards the fish was stacked in the ordinary manner in the fish room but without ice, the room being kept at a temperature of approximn tely 20 deg. Fa lit. FiTi could in this way remain frozen for years without losing any of its freshness. Mr Sherwood and Mr Lavender had already brought chilled beef from South America treated by this process. Meat kept in this manner would retain all the qualities of fresh meat. Tt is claimed that they can bring the chilled beef borne from New Zealand and Australia in such condition that its full value and taste will lie every bit as good as that of freshly killed meat. Fish can now be delivered as fresh as when it comes out of the sea

A TARIFF 'BOOMERANG

The imposition of exorbitant rates of duty is having a boomerang effect in Australia. Many firms and companies which have put forward extravagant claims for higher protection to a sympathetic Government are now faced with the possibility of overseas compoititors establishing themselves in Australia and making more serious advances in their trade than would have been the cnee and they had been satisfied to make steady progress under reasonably proto tive rates, Since the Federal Ministry impose super duties on several goods and placed a ban on the importation of others the indications are more pronounced than overseas manufacturers whose trade is seriously affected, will consider the question of establishing works in the Commonwealth. It may be that the imported goods have earned a very favourable reputation in the Australian markets, and at the same time have created a sympathetic arid better demand for the lesser known Australian product of the same nature.