The Forrest City times., 1906-06-08

auentlv throw them down upon the dirty floor beside their working bench. Even in cutting the meat upon the bench. the work is usually held pressed against their aprons, and
 these aprons were as a rule. inde- seribably filthy. They were made, in most cases. is leather or of rough
 sacking. and bore long accumulated
 grease and dirt. In only a few
 places were suitable oileloth aprons
 worn. Moreover, men were seen to
 climb from the floor and stand. with
 shoes dirty with the refuse of the
 floors. on the tables upon which the
 meat was handled. They were seen
 at the lunch hour sitting on the tables
 on the spot on which the meat pro
 uct was handled. and all this under
 the very eye of the superintendent of
 the room, showing that this was the
 common practice.
 Meat scraps were also found being
 shoveled into receptacles from dirty
 floors where they were left to lie un
 til again shoyeled into barrels or into
 machines for chopping. These floors,
 1t must be noted. were in most cases
 damp and soggy. in dark. ill-yentilat-
 ed rooms. and the employees. in ut
 ter ignorance of cleanliness or dan
 ger to health expectorated at will
 upon them In word. We saw meat
 shoveled from filthy wooden floors,
 piled on tables rarely washed. pushed
 from room to room in rotten box
 carts. in ali of which processes it was
 In the way of gathering dirt. splinters
 floor filth and the eXpectoration of tu-
 berculous and other diseased work
 CTS. Where comment was made to
 the floor superintendents about these
 matters. it 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 prod
 ucts and in the form of sausages,
 which are prep radtoaeebetypf nsh
 which are prepared to be eaten with
 out being cooked.
 A particularly glaring instance of
 uncleanIiness was found in a room
 where the best grade of sausage was
 being prepared for export. It was , made from carefully-seleeted meats,
 and was being prepared to be eaten uncookcd. In this case the employe earted the chopped-up meat across a , room iu a barrow. the handles of l tol, ,I, n meat was then thrown out upon tables, and the enploye climbed upon the ; table, handled the meat with his un- washed hands knelt with his dirty apron and trousers i'll 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 indef- nitely Inquiry developed the fact that there was no water in this room
 at all. and the only method the man adopted fer elaaning his hands was 7 to rub them against his dirty apron
 or on his still ffithier trousers.
 As an extreme example of the entire disregard ol any notion of cleanliness in handling dressed meat. We saw a hog that had 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 toilet room. It ? was picked up by two employees, placed upon truck, carried into the cooling wit casses no effort being made to clean it.
 Inspection Method Defects. The radical defect in the present system of inspection is that it does not go far enough It is confined at
 present sby law 10 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 prepared . meat foods goes drought many nro- cesses in all of which there is possi. bility of contamination through un- sanitary handling. and further danger through the usa of chemicals During all these processes Of preparation
 there is no government inspection and
 no assurance whatever that these meatfood products arc wholesome and it for food-despite the fact that all : these products, when sent out. bear a lapel stating they have been passed
 upon by government inspectors.
 As 10 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 Tor the various food products.
 The results of our observations have already been partly given. Other in. stances of how products may be made
 up and still secure the stamp of gov. ernment inspection are here given. In
 one well.known establishment We
 came upon fresh meat being shoveled into barrels, and a regular proportion
 being added of stale scraps that had
 lain on dirty floor in the corner of