Evening journal., 1914-04-08
EGGS BY THE CAN
MAY CONE later
Department Of Agriculture
Is Encouraging Another
New Industry
EXPERIMENTS SHOW
PRODUCT WILL KEEP
BY The United Press.


WASHINGTON, April s.-"One can Of
condensed milk, a can Of asparagus tips,
"a can of beans, can OF beef and can
of eggs"
When the American grocer answers
his telephone a few years hence he will
probably get some such order, for the
Department OF Agriculture is doing
much TO encourage the canning of eggs
and claims that there are more logical
reasons for canned eggs than for almost
any other food product now sold in tins
For one thing canned eggs will be
cheaper than eggs in the shell for they
will have been put up in the great egg
producing farm corn belt at time when
hens are laying and fresh eggs are al
most drug on the market The cans
can be shipped in refrigerator cars close
~ packed and there viii be no waste
space for cardboard packing, while the
present 10 per cent. loss for breahage
will be saved.
Before the department endorsed the
canning OF eggs its specialists made a
long and thorough psychological study
lOi eggs 10 determine what changes they
underwent and what factors made them
spoil. This spelling was found TO be due
almost entirely TO growing bacteria in
the eggs-a little warmth and q little
air and the damage was done. With
other products the secret was found TO
be absolute cleanliness and heat With
eggs il is the same cleanliness combined
with good grading and cold.
Canned eggs have been tested after
having been kept I'm storage year and
their quality and flavor found unim-
paired As one investigator put it,
the chief difference was that you
opened them with a can opener IN
stead Of a spoon. They come to the
consumer frozen and when melted
they look and smell like fresh eggs
broken into bowl and stirred until
the whites and yollfs are mixed, except
that they arc a little thicker. Sim
liar experiments have been made with
dried eggs or egg powder, and this,
too, will keep for months provided
II is kept at a low temperature. It
ie hardly possible therefore, that
canned or dried eggs will be ever
displaced on store shelves.
An egg canning plant. which the de-
partment regards as a standard looks
more like the modern operating room
of hospital than a commercial in-
stitution. The eggs on their arrival
at the plant are sent TO chilled room
and kept there for "a hours at a
temperature a few degrees above
freezing. Then they are candled and
all suspicious ones are discarded.
The graded eggs then go to refrig-
Grated room that is as aseptic and
as we'll lighted as it is possible TO
make It. No dust OF flies can get in
and the temperature never rises above
So degrees. IL is water tight and
steam proof so that It can be washed
and steamed throughout. The uten-
sils for breaking the eggs are all met
al so they can be sterilized In live
steam Before beginning work the
operatives sterilize their hands much
as surgeon does before beginning
an operation. The similarity also ex-
tends to the donning Of clean white
caps and gowns.
Each egg is broken into a separate
cup and inspected before being
put into the sterilized cans. Every
doubtful egg is discarded the cup
again sterIlized and the operatives
hands washed before touching an.
other egg. In order to make certain
that each egg gets sufficient attention
the breakers are not allowed e
exceed a definite number Of eggs pei
hour.
The canning Of eggs is of imniens'
benefit to the farmer because It pro
vides him with steady market at {
time when warm weather makes IL i'm
perative that he dispose of his produc
I'm hurry. IL is also a market FOL
small eggs, dark shelled eggs an'
other varieties that do not sell vel
I'm the shell.