101PRESERVATIVES IN MEAT FOODS.-THE RECENT LOW URBAN DEATH-RATE.

THE LANCET.

LONDON: SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1908.

Preservatives in Meat Foods.THE report recently issued by the Medical Department of

the Local Government Board on preservatives in meat foods

packed in cans or glass seems to us to demand a fresh con-sideration of the whole question of food preservation bychemical means. The temptation to use preservatives mustbe very strong when, as this report -states, they are foundto be present in meat foods which are submittedto a process of sterilisation. The obvious suggestion is

that the preservatives are used for an undesirable purpose.Apart from the questions as to whether certain preserva-tives are or are not harmless, their presence in the

circumstances just stated probably signifies that the meat

required some kind of treatment in order to correct an un-wholesome condition in regard to it or to negative perhapsan undesirable change which may threaten to take placeduring the process of manufacture. It is quite clear at anyrate that sterilisation must be the last operation concerned,because that can only be done when the foods are hermeti-

cally sealed in the tins. Preservatives are therefore used

probably as a preliminary precaution to keep the meat in acondition which, at any rate, makes it appear to be whole-

some. Various circumstances which we are told come to

light from time to time as the result of action by localauthorities suggest that a lucrative trade is sometimes

done in meat which has been purchased at a time

when fresh meats have reached the limit of their keep-ing powers. This fact opens up a promising field for

the manufacturer of preservatives who loses little oppor.

tunity in pressing the claims of his goods upon those

engaged in the various branches of the trade in meat-

food products. As Dr. A. W. J. MACFADDEN pointsout in his report, these antiseptic materials are often soldunder fancy names, with nothing to guide the purchaseras to their composition, and are often accompanied by a sortof guarantee to the effect that their use in accordance withdirections given will not entail liability to prosecution.There can be little doubt that the great saving in

trouble and material which is held out as an induce-

ment to users of these substances and the harmless,not to say beneficial, effects which they are stated

to have on those who consume them in food have had

weight with a certain class of manufacturers of preservedmeat.

Another interesting and important point alluded to in thereport is the penetrative power of preservatives when

used as a packing material. It appears from a number

of experiments made by Mr. P. A. ELLis RICHARDS, F.I.C.,

that boric acid, for example, which has been in contact,with hams for a period of ’three or four weeks or

more does actually penetrate their substance to a very considerable degree. Such a definite result disposes entirely of,the contention that penetration beyond the surface, exceptto the smallest extent, does not take place. Moreover, the

samples of hams dealt with were washed and brushed’before the chemical examination was started, and not.*withstanding this treatment there were found in the skin,

covering the fat as much as from 13 to 24 grains of,boric acid per pound, and in the outer half-inch of the leanside of the hams amounts varying from 19 to 45 grains per,pound. Even after boiling in the way ordinarily employedlarge amounts of boric acid were still observed to be presentin the outer layers of the lean portions of two hams.!

Throughout the entire mass of the meat the preservativewas demonstrated and even in the most remote parts of the,

muscular substance quantities varying from two to 15 grains;per pound were noted. While, however, muscular tissue-.appears to be liable to extensive penetration the amountabsorbed by the large mass of fat forming the upper portion,of the ham is small.

The lessons of this report are striking enough and the)

opinion which we have often expressed in these columns;that the protection afforded to the British public against;preservatives in foods is far from being adequate again,receives endorsement. This country has not even

settled for itself official standards in regard to this)

matter and at the present time only the recommendations.of a departmental committee which reported eight yearsago can be referred to as being to some extent authoritative. These recommendations need to become statutory,)and British requirements should be specified in such a way.that foreign and colonial manufacturers and officials can

have no difficulty in understanding as to what the publichealth authorities in this country expect them to avoid or,to do in regard to the use of preservatives.

The Recent Low Urban Death-rate.JUDGED by the low mean rate ot mortality during April,

May, and June, in the 76 large English towns for which theRegistrar-General publishes weekly returns, the health con-dition of their aggregate population, now exceeding16,000,000, was exceptionally favourable during the pastspring quarter. The mean annual death-rate in these towns

during the 13 weeks ending on June 27th did not exceed13’ 8 per 1000, against an average rate of 15’ 0 in the

five preceding corresponding periods of 1903-07, thelowest rate in these five spring quarters being 14’ 7 per1000 in 1905. The mean temperature of the air at theRoyal Observatory, Greenwich, during the 13 weeks was

52’ 40 and 0 ’ 30 below the average temperature of the same

period in 65 years. The mean temperature was considerablybelow the average in April, and was slightly below the

average during the last three weeks of June; whereas a

considerable excess of temperature prevailed during Mayand the first week of June. The measured rainfall at

Greenwich was 6-06 inches, exceeding the average in