NO DANGER IN EATING PORK

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 69, 2 September 1965, Page 7

NO DANGER IN EATING PORK

There is no greater danger m eating pom than in eating any other meat, according to the Department of Agriculture, The pork trade is moving back to normal and there has never been any sound reason for consumer suspicion or fear. Pork meat, in common with all others, needs proper cooking to eliminate health hazards, which are part of everyday life.

The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Talboys, says the intensive diagnostic p r ogramme being carried out hy the Department in its search for the trichinosis disease revealed infection in a solitary Dargaville pig, and in a rat which was trapped near a quarantined farm. All the indications were that the scope of the disease is very limited. However, it is still too early to make any final judgment, and the original quarantine arrangements will be continued, with the testing of pigs from all parts of tha North Island. Beef Measles Recently two cases of beef measles were diagnosed by the Department' s meat in-

spectors, and confirmed by testing at the Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre. Beef measles are cysts in th° muscles of animals, formed by the larvae of human tapeworms, and are common in most parts of the world. The worms' eggs are excreted by humans, and pieked up by animals where sewage sludge is spread on pastures. After catering the animals' bloodstream and becoming fixed in certain muscles, they calcify. If the meat is eaten undercooked before calcifieation, the consumer could become infected with the adult worms. This would not in itself be a serious health hazard, but such infection can be debilitating, The remedies are simple, says the department — cook meat properly, and observe good standards of hygiene cn the farm and in the home. Cook all effal fed to dogs, and waste or garbage fed to pigs; wash hands before

meals; do not spread sewage sludge on pastures grazed by animals; and, of course, declare war on rats. The most important thing, however, is to ensure that no foreign meat or meat products are brought into New Zealand. These could carry diseases disastrous to New Zealand' s meat trade. Any - meat or meat products imported througn normal trade channels are subject to veterinary certification, and are quite safe. The piece of sausage or ham in a gift parcel, or in the bag of a traveller, constitutes the real danger.