The Pensacola journal., 1906-06-05
CON Illumination
Of MEAT FOOD
PRODUCTS
tcontinued from First Page.)

/ NSNhAlAAEG ANSAh ElAeh NSSNJ
! dies of the wheelbarrOw, went back
for another load, ana repeated tn 5
! process indefinitely. Inquiry devel-
cped 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
! fithier trousers.
Example Of Fiithiness.
CAS- an example of the entire dis
regard on the part of employees of
any notion of cleanliness in handling
dressed meat, we saw a hog that had
| just been killed. cleaned. washed. and
started on its way to the cooling
room fall from the sliding rail to a
dirty wooden floor and slide part way
into a filthy mems privy. 1t was
picked up by two employees, placed
upon truck. carried into the cooling
room and hung up with other car
casses, no effort being made to clean
il.
The radical defect in the present
system of inspection is that it does
not go far enough. It 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 ana in the various
forms Of can&1 products and other
prepared meat foods goes through
many processes, in all of which there
Is possibility of contamination through
iIsanitary handling, and further dan
ger through the use Of chemicals.
During all these processes of prepar-
alton there is no government inspec-
tion and no assurance whatever that
these meat-food products are whole
some and At for food-despite the
fact that all these products, when
sent out, bear a label stating they
have been passed upon by govern
ment inspectors.
"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 san
itary handling of the meats being
prepared for the various food
products.
The results of our observations
have already been partly given.
Other instances of how products NAV
be made up, and still secure the
stamp Of government inspection are
here given. In one well-knOwn estab-
Ilshment we came upon fresh meat
being shoveled into barrels, and a
regular proportion being added Of
stale scraps that haG' lain on a dirty
floor in the corner of a room for
some days previous. In another es-
tablishment, equally well known. al
lCng table was noted covered with
several hundreds pounds of cooked
scraps of beef and other meats. Some
of these meat scraps were dry,
leathery, and unfit to be eaten; anal
in the heap were found pieces of pig
skin, 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 pot
ted ham,
All BeaFI Label.
All OF these canned products the /
report says, bear label stating "the
contents of this package have been
inspected according to the Act of
Congress of March 8, 1891"
The phraseolOgy of these labels is
wholly unwarranted," continues the
report. The government inspectors
pass only upon the healthfulness of
the animal at the time of killing.
They know nothing of the processes
through which the meat has passed
since this inspection. They do not
know what else may have been
rlaced in the cans in addition to in.
spected meat AS a matter of fact.
they know nothing about the con
tents OF the can upon which the
packers place these labels-do not
even know that it contains what il
purports to contain. The lengend
quality guaranteed Immediately fol.