Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1920-12-24

ro o,s farm dSvelonmsnt ana farm
,.,.,est, All that TO- required 10 20.
.acv IN all statements made. II
our desire to make this depart
4 ~.n' of real !nts.s.t'
EATING UNLOCKED PORK
The approach Of the Christmas sea-
AN prompts the United States De-
w s.rtment Of Agriculture to issue q
rsmirg against eating pork or any
.rodutt containing pork unless It Is
rsIl cooked. At that season, espec-
;.Ilv quantities Of certain kinds Of
.ork products which many persons
= accustomed to eat uncooked are
separed in homes and on farms, as
rell as commercially. Uncooked pork
feouently contains parasites Of micro
.eopic size known as trichinae, and
nersons who eat uncooked pork run the
risk Of contracting trichinosis, a most
nainfnl and distressing disease which
sometimes ends fatally in spite Of any
treatment. The health Of patients
who recover from the acute stages
Of the disease is often permanently
impaired.
Il is important to remember that
uncaoked pork is likely to contain live
trichinae no matter how healthy the
animal from which it came may have
appeared, or how excellent the meat
looks. A satisfactory method Of meat
inspection to discover these parasites
has not yet been devised. Hence, with
certain exceptions, it is dangerous to
eat uncooked pork even though it has
been ~. S. Inspected and Passed"
In order to safeguard consumers
who may be ignorant or careless OF the
dangers of raw pork, the Department
OF Agriculture requires that certain
kinds of ham, sausage, and other pork
products prepared in establishments
operating under Federal meat inspec-
ton be subjected to processes that are
known to destroy trichinae. Such pro-
cesses, however, are required only In
the case Of those products that are
customarily eaten without cooking.
In the case of other products such
as fresh pork and ordinary varieties
OF ham, sausage, and bacon, which in
the United States are customarily
cooked by the consumer before they
are eaten, special processes to de-
stroy trichinae are not used in meat
packing establishments under Fed
eral inspection. Accordingly, unless
the product is definitely known to have
been specially processed to destroy
trichinae, it is highly important that
the consumer make sure that pork is
properly cooked before it is eaten.
The most effective and simplest pre-
caution against trichinosis is to avoid
eating uncooked or improperly cooked
pork.
The trishina parasites die and be-
come harmless when exposed to suf-
ficient heat. They are SO small that
even though present in large numbers
they do not appreciably affect the
value or desirability Of the meat for
food purposes, provided it is not eaten
raw or imperfectly cooked.
In the case Of uncured pork the
thoroughness of the cooking can be
judged by whether the meat clear to
the center of the piece has lost its
reddish, bloody appearance and has
become more or less white in color.
Heat penetrates slowly into pieces OF
meat during cooking, and the tenn
rerature near the center ordinarily
never approaches very closely that Of
the surrounding air or water.
The following rule for cooking pork
by boiling is based on careful ex'
pariments carried out some years age
by Danish investigator:
Cook the meat Is minutes (summer)
to lS minutes (winter) for each
pround of weight if put into boiling
water, keeping the water boiling
throughout the cooking process. L
the meat @Put into cold water deduc'
half the time required to bring th'
water to boil.
Examples: How long should a 10
pound ham befboiled if placed in boil
ing water2 Ten multiplied by II
equals $50 minutes. or 3 hours. How
long should 1O-pound ham be boil
et if placed in cold water and if
hour is required to bring the waite
t. a boil? Ten multiplied by II
minus 80 equals $50 minutes, or l.
hours, after boiling begins.
In applying per pound allowanc
sh uld be followed in summer as wei
as in winter if the meat is taken fror
a rcfrigerator and cooking begun be
for" it has had time to reach tn
ordinary house temperature. For hig
attitudes, where the temperature G
boiling water is considerably less tina
al ca level, the time of cookin