CANNED FOODS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4666, 25 February 1924, Page 1

CANNED FOODS.

NOT CAUSE OF PTOMAINE POISONING. “ Until quite recently there was a crusade in England against tinned, or canned, goods. This crusade had a very harmful efiect upon our export from Australia, as well as goods from America. But if the agitation against canned goods has come to an end in England, it has begun in Australia by certain sections of the Press wrongly attributing almost all ptomaine poisoning to canned, or tinned, goods,” said Mr. .T. Paton, Manager for H. Jones and Co., Sydney, Limited.

“ A variety of food is becoming pecessary in modern life,” he continued, “ and unless we are to return to the days of primitive living we must consume a large variety of preserved food. Any medical man will testify that variety in food is a distinct advantage, and to be able to eat delicious fruit, in perfect cond'tion, when it has long disappeared from the fresh fruit market, must be a decided advantage from the health point of view, while for a change from meat, which is necessary at times, canned fish offers a desirable alternative.

** Of course, there cannot possibly be danger of ptomaine poisoning from jams or canned fruits, though there are people who have taken it for granted that every eatable which is put up in tins is dangerous. In an address at Manchester (England), Dr. Crichton Browne urged the public not to be intimidated by what they heard about vitamines. He said that a single lettuce leaf would give, he believed, enough vitamines for a fortnight. “ A well-known medical officer of health, in England, says about ptomaine poisoning, that when there has been any trouble it has been mostly caused through wrong procedure on the part of the consumer after opening the container, or while opening it. He points out that the can-opener should be kept scrupulously clean, instead of, what is too often the case, using it without washing, to open tins of jam, fish, or meats, and simply wiping it after the operation, instead of scalding it with hot water. Such carelessness was often the cause of ptomaine poisoning.”