River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-06-07

it must be noted, were in most cases
damp and soggy, in dark, ill-venti-
lated rooms, and the employees In ut
ter Ignorance of cleanliness or danger
to health expectorated at will upon
them. In word, we saw meat SHOW
eled from filthy wooden floors, piled
on tables rarely washed, pushed from
room to room in rotten box-carts, In
all OF which processes 1t was IN the
way Of gathering dirt, splinters, floor
filth and the expectoration OF tuber-
culous and other diseased workers.
Where comment was made to floor
superintendent about these matters,
1t was always the reply that this
meat would afterwards be cooked, and
that this sterilization would prevent
any danger from it's use. Even this,
it may be pointed out in passing, is
not wholly true A very considerable
portion of the meat so handled is sent
out as smoked products and in the
form of sausages, which are prepared
to be eaten without being cooked.
A particularly glazing instance Of
uncleanliness was found in a room
where the best grade OF sausage was
being prepared for export. 1t was
made from carefully selected meats,
and was being prepared to be eaten
uncooked. In this case the employe
carried the chopped-up meat across a
room in a barrow, the handles OF
which were filthy with grease. The
meat was then thrown out upon tables,
and the employee climbed upon the ta-
bic, handled the meat with his un-
washed hands, knelt with his dirty
apron and trousers in contact with the
meat he was spreading out, and, after
he had finished his operation, again
took hold of the dirty handles of the
wheelbarrow, went back for another
load, and repeated this process in
definitely. Inquiry developed the fact
that there was no water in this room
at all, and the only method the man
adopted for cleaning his hands was to
rub them against his dirty apron or
ON his still filthier trousers.
AS an extreme example OF the entire
disregard on the part of employees OF
any notion of cleanliness in handling
dressed meat, we saw hog that had
just been killed, cleaned, washed, and
started on it's way to the cooling room
fall from the sliding rail to a dirty
wooden floor and slide part way into
filthy mems privy. 1t was picked
up by two employees, placed upon a
truck, carried into the cooling room
and hung up with other carcasses, no
effort being made to clean it.
Treatment of Meat After. Inspection.
The radical defect in the present
system of inspection is that it does
not go far enough. 1t is confined at
present by law to passing on the
healthfulness of animals at the time
of killing; but the meat that is used
in sausage and in the various forms
of canned products and other pre-
pared meat foods goes through many
processes, in all of which there is pos
sibility of contamination through in
sanitary handling, and further danger
through the use of chemicals. Dur
ing all these processes of preparation
there is no government inspection and
no assurance whatever that these
meat-food products are wholesome
and fit for food-despite the fact that
all these products, when sent out,
bear a label stating they have been
passed upon by government inspec-
tors.
AS to the investigation of the al
legged use of dyes, preservatives, or
chemicals in the preparation OF cured
meats, sausages, and canned goods we
are not yet prepared to report. We
did look into the matter of sanitary
handling of the meats being prepared
for the various food products. The
results of our observations have al
ready been partly given. Other in
stances of how products may be
made up, and still sc cure the stamp Of
government inspection are here
given. In one well-known establish
ment we came upon fresh meat being
shoveled into barrels and a regular
proportion being added of stale scraps
that had lain on a dirty floor in the
corner of a room for some days pre-
vious. In another establishment,
equally well known, a long table was
noted covered with several hundred
pounds of cooked scraps of beef and
other meats. Some of these meat
scraps were dry, leathery, and unfit
to be 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 was to be ground up and
used in making "potted ham,"
All of these canned products bear
labels of which the following is a
sample:
ABATTOR NO. =
The contents of this package have been
inspected according to the act of
Congress of March 3, 1891.
QUALITY GUARANTEED.
The phraseology of these labels is
wholly unwarranted. The government