Evening star., 1946-09-08
Retail Meat Control
To Depend Mainly
On Alert Consumers
ey the Associated Pes,

CHICAGO, Sept. THE black
market in meat wasn't what you
think what it was.
Stories of bloody slaughtering in
filthy abandoned shack, with the
retail outlet furtive side street
butcher, emphasized only one side
OF the black market picture. There
was another side.
WhN retail ceilings return to
meat Tuesday, the fight against the
black market will be expanded, but
,t Will be up to the consuming
public to do a large part of the
Job. What was the black market?
According to men in the meat
Industry, at least part of the black
market had a touch of glamour.
AT the consumer level it f1ourished
best In the swankiest hotels, night
clubs and restaurants.
They said it worked this way:
Steaks and prime ribs of beef
didn't appear on the menu, but
the big-time spender, the boy trav-
cling on the company expense ac-
count. wasn't bothered by such ap-
parent scarcity He knew what a
word to the waiter, plus the impli-
cation of a good tip, could get re-
sults-also steaks. The waiter
would "see what I can do with the
chef" and the combined efforts of
those two gentlemen was miraculous.
Drawn from Legal Market.
This was good, grain-bed beef.
1t didn't come from any back-alley
abattofr.
If the same demand again de-
eelops for beef. it will mean just
that much meat drawn out of the
ceiling-controlled market.
There were many other viola
tions of controls, all OF which con-
stituted black markets. Any meat
not bought according to regula-
tions was black market meat. The |
meat industry contended that many
housewives were part of the black
market without knowing it.
All meat was divided into differ
ent grades and each grade had a |
different ceiling. When the house
wife purchased commercial grade
meat at choice grade ceilings, that /
was black market.
According to OPk regulations,
meat should be displayed in show
case with the grade posted on it.
If 1t isn't, the housewife should re-
quest that it be; then, If that isn't |
done, she should report the viola
ton to the OPA.
Specific rules limited the amount
Of fat which could be left on any
cut of meat. When the amount
was in excess of regulations, that
was black market
Sausage "Cheapened"
Such composite meat products as
sausage provided innumerable op-
portunities for violations. Sausage
was divided into types, depending
upon its meat content. When the
content was "cheapened" by using
other products, and prices were not
reduced, that was black market.
Ground beef regulations provid-
ed that the meat must be ground
In front of the housewife; other
wise, the meat was hamburger, re-
gardless of its contents. When the
housewife paid ground beef prices
for meat which was already ground,
that was black market.
There were many other viola
tions-such as selling meat already
wrapped, and without weighing it
and they were all black market.
These practices, meat packing
sources are agreed, will return
quickly unless the consumer re-
sists them. An expanded OPA en-
forcement personel will help, but
much of their work will be at the
wholesale level.
Seeing that the ceilings are main
tained at retail will be mostly up
to the consumer.