Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-21
MEAT TRADE AIDED
BY REFRIGERATION
New Processes of Retail Sell
ing Also Promote Pack
ing Industry.
BY J. c. ROYLE.
Special Disnatch TO The Star.


Special Dispatch TO The Star.
NEW YORK, November 21.-Renewe6
prosperity for the live stock industry
the corn growers, the packing industry
and food retailers is seen as a result
OF recent developments in preparation
and distribution of meat, according to
provision men today. The packers fore
cast an era of production and distribu-
ton which will send meat from con-
tented producers, contented packers and
contented retailers to contented con-
sumers They do not care whether the
steers are contented or not.
The programs which they believe will
make such an era possible involve the
quick freezing of meat by newly i'm
proved processes, the Skillful and ex-
pert cutting of meat in the packing
plants, the packaging of the cuts and
their sale through meat markets, gro
Gerry stores and even automatic vending
machines. In other words, the packers
will be able to guarantee the grade of
the product the consumer buys and
similar results would be achieved to
those that have followed similar plans
in the lumber industry.
80 Grades of Beef.
beef alone. Few even among the re-
tail butchers can distinguish them ac-
curately. Yet the consumer frequently
pays for a grade which the article sold
him does not warrant. Under the new
plans such quality would be guaranteed
by the packers themselves. With the
equipment and working forces at their
disposal, they can cut the animal for
FETAL distribution more Skillfully and
with less waste than is the case at
present. With the lessening of costs
through quantity production and waste
elimination they say they are conf
dent better quality can be given the
buyer at lower prices.
Clarence Birdseye, one Of the inven-
tors OF quick freezing processes, declares
that freezing, wrapping and packaging
meats under quick freezing processes
costs approximately az cents pound.
opposed to this charge is the saving of
waste in cutting and almost complete
reduction of Spoilage. With the deVel-
opment of household refrigeration, Mr..
BirdSeye says. the housewife in future
can keep a good variety of meats al
ways on hand without danger of loss.
He reports experiments showing that
lamb has been frozen for nine
months under the new process without
the slightest deterioration such as
usually has followed in cold storage
meats in the past.
With preservation brought to a sue
cessful stage the packers, they say, will
be relieved of the anxiety of uneven
live stock receipts and level out seasonal
distribution. 1t is claimed that the
program will also assure benefits to the
live stock producer, since it will provide
a demand for the higher grade of meat
cuts and be instrumental in inducing
the farmer and grower to raise bet
ter quality of animals and at the same
time iron out the peaks and hollows
of the live stock markets so as to as
sure orderly marketing and price sta
bilization. The growers are realizing
more extensively than ever before the
present futility of raising and market
ing animals which produce meat cuts
for which there is only a limited de-
mard.
Meat Type Hogs.
1--WE must give the customer what he
or she wants" said F. S. Snyder, pack
err of Boston. chairman of the board
of the Institute of American Meat
Packers. IF the consumer wants light
cuts of meat, l,400-pound steers and
lardy hogs won't yield the right kind
of meat products" He AIDED that farm
ers were now showing increased interest
in the meat type hog as opposed to the
ldTuY bype IlG Wk0C SW4IlBS AA1
hog production and consequently in
hog and pork values have been source
of worry to all concerned, he said, es-
pecially to corn growers who market
the larger part of their crop in the form
of meat. New processes, it Is hoped,
will aid to stabilize hog breeding, since
although farmers can feed hogs more
corn in years when the corn crop is
large and cheap, they cannot feed corn
to more hogs unless the hogs have been
born before the crop has had time to
become an influence.
The new methods of the packers have
started at the very bottom. For years
animals have been killed either by
knocking them on the head or cutting
their Threats. Now cattle are being
electrocuted. The movement Is still in
an experimental stage, but promises to
become general BY the new freezing
process the retail cutting and wrapping
operations are transferred from the
store to the factory and open many
new channels for the letail distribution
of meat. This opening of new channels
Is not entirely satisfactory to meat re-
tailers. since it might mean 100000 new
outlets for meat products. The new
processes also involve refrigerated trucks
and refrigerated automatic vending ma
chimes.