New-York tribune., 1906-06-05


reach the cooling room are handled in fairly
sanitary and cieanly manner. The parts that
leave the cooling room for treatment in bulk
also handled with regard to cleanliness, but
the parts that sent from the cooling room
TO those departments of the packing houses in
which various forms of meat products are pre-
pared handled with no regard whatever for
cleanliness. In some OF the largest estaoish-
ments sides that sent to what is known as
the boning room thrown in heap upon the
floor. The workers climb over these heaps or
meat, select the pieces they wish. and frequently
throw them down upon the dirty noor beside
their working bench Even an cutting the meat
upon the bench the work is usually held pressed
against their aprons and these aprons were as
a rule indescribably filthy. They were made in
most cases Of leather of rough sacking, and
bore long accumulated grease and dirt In only
a few places were suitable olcloth aprons worn
Moreover men were seen to climb from the
floor and stand, with shoes dirty with the ref
use of the floors the tables upon which the
meat handled. They were seen at tne
luncheon hour sitting on the tables On the Spot
on which the meat product was handled ana all
this under the very eye OF the superintendent OF
the room showing that this was the common
Meat scraps were also found being shovelled
into receptacles from dirty floors, where heS
were left TO lie until again shovelled into barrels
into machines for ohOpping. These floors. II
must be noted. were in most cases damp ana
soggy in dark ill-ventilated rooms, and the en- /
ployes in utter ignorance of cleanliness or danger
tn health expectorated at will upon them In
word, saw meat shovelled from filthy wooden /
floors piled on tables rarely washed, pushed from
room 10 room in rotten box carts, in all of which
processes il in the way of gathering dirt |
splinters. floor filth and the eXpectoration Of /
I fuherculOus and other diseased workers. Where /
comment was made to floor superintendents !
about these matters, il was always the reply /
that this meat would afterward be cooked. and
that this sterilization would prevent any danger |
from its Even this, il may be pointed out /
in passing, is not wholly true A very consider |
able portion of the meat handled is sent out |
as smoked products and in the form of sausages,
which are prepared 10 be eaten without being
cooked
A particularly glaring instance of uncleanli
ness found in a room where the best grade
Of sausage was being prepared for export. II
was made from carefully selected meats. and
was being prepared TO be eaten uncooked. In
this case the enploye carted the chopped up
meat across room in barrow, the handles of
which filthy with grease. The meat was
then thrown out upon tables, and the employe
climbed upon the table. handled the meat with
his unwashed hands. knelt with his dirty apron
and trousers in contact with the meat he was
spreading out. and after he had nnlshed ms ms
operation again took hold of the dirty handles
of the wheelbarrow. went back for another load.
and repeated this process indefinitely. Inquiry
developed the fact that there was no water In
This roorn at all. and the only method the man
adopted for cleaning his hands was 10 rub them
against his dirty apron or on his sun nIthler
trousers
AS an extreme example of the entire disregard
on the part of employees of any notion OF ceanl-
that had just been killed. cleaned, washed ana
started on its way TO the cooling room fail from
the sliding rail TO a dirty wooden floor ana shde
part way into a filthy mems prlNy. IL was picheu
up by two employees placed upon a truck, car
ried into the cooling room and hung uP with
ot her carca sses no effort being made 10 clean H.
Treatment of meat after inspection-Ihe
radical defect in the present system or inspec-
tons is that IL does not go far enough IL Is con
fined at present by law to passing on the heaith-
fulness of animals at the time OF killng' put the
meat that is used in sausage and IN the various
forms of canned products and other preiEtTe1 |
meat foods goes through many processes, IN all
of which there is possibility Of contemplation |
through insantary handling. and further danger
through the use Of chemicals During di uheSe !
processes of preparation there is no government
In nsnection and no assurance whatever that these
meat food products are wholesome and III Tor
the fact that all these products
when sent out hear a label stating they nave
been passed upon by government inspectors
AS 10 the investigation of the alleged use OF
DIVES preservatives or chemicals in the prepara
ton of cured meats sausages and canned goods
We are not yet prepared 10 report we dld look
into the matter of sanitary handling or the
meats being prepared for the various food prod
ucts The results of our observations nave al !
ready been partly given Other instances OF
how products may he made up and still secure
the stamp of government inspection are mere
given In one well known establishment we
came upon fresh meat being shoveed into bar
rels and a regular proportion being added OF
stale scraps that had lain a dirty floor in
he corner of a room for days previous. /
In another establish hment, equally well known, a
long table was noted covered with several hun
dred pounds of cooked scraps of beef and other
meats. Some of these meat scraps were dry,
leatheTy and unfit to he eaten; and in the heap
were found pieces Of pigskin. and even some bits
Of rope strands and other rubbish Inquiry
evoked the frank admission from the man in
charge that this be ground up and used
in making 'potted ham"
All of these canned products bear labels of
which the following is a sample:
ABATToIR no -
The contents Of this package have been in
e ~