Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations

by Harvey Washington Wiley

—The method of preserving meats in a liquid environment is sometimes called pickling. All kinds of meat are pickled in this way, but pork especially. The pickling brine may be simply made of common salt, though other substances, such as sugar, vinegar, and spices, are used. The brine also sometimes contains a chemical preservative which is highly objectionable on the general ground of the harmfulness of these substances. The preservative commonly used is either sulfite of soda or boric acid. The making of a pickled meat of this kind should be discouraged. The vinegar which is employed or acetic acid may be injected into the carcass before it is cut up. When the arteries or veins are filled with vinegar in this way it rapidly permeates to all parts of the meat and acts as an excellent and unobjectionable preservative in all cases where an acid taste is desired. It is claimed that carcasses which have been injected with vinegar in this way are easily preserved, and require far less salt and other condimental substances than when not so treated. As vinegar is a condimental substance used everywhere, and one which promotes digestion when used in proper quantities, the preservation of meats or the pickling of meats by a previous injection of vinegar is not objectionable.

COMPOSITION OF THE FLESH OF PIGS.

Extensive investigation of the composition of the flesh of pigs has been made in the Bureau of Chemistry (Bulletin 53). The pigs upon which these examinations were made were specially bred and fattened at the Agricultural Experiment Station of Iowa, and were prepared for the market by the most approved modern style of feeding. They were slaughtered according to the approved method and immediately, after proper preparation, the carcasses were placed in cold storage, where they were kept until removal for the purpose of dissection and preparation of the samples for analyses. Expert butchers from Washington were secured for the dissecting and dressing of the pigs in the manner in which it would be done for the best market. The pigs were of different varieties, namely, Berkshire, No. 1; Tamworth, No. 2; Chester White, No. 3; Poland China, No. 4; Duroc Jersey, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7; Yorkshire, No. 8.

TABLE A.—WEIGHTS OF WHOLE CUTS AND DATA RELATING TO THE PREPARATION OF AIR-DRY SAMPLES.
PIG No. 1.—BERKSHIRE.

Names of Cuts.	Weights of Whole Cuts.									Direct Determinations on Original Material.		Preparation of Air-dry Samples.
	Chicago.						Washington.					Weight of fresh sample.	Air-dry sample of original material.	Weight of air-dry sample after extraction.	Weight of fat.	Air-dry sample plus fat.	Weight of water removed.	Removed in preparation of sample.
										Water.	Fat.							Water.	Fat.
	Lbs.		Oz.		Grams.		Lbs.	Oz.	Grams.	Per ct.	Per ct.	Grams.	Per ct.	Grams.	Grams.	Grams.	Grams.	Per ct.	Per ct.
Two American clear backs,	35	1⁄2	0		16,102.8		34	6	15,592.5	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	31.33	58.21	833.0	13.16	109.6	458.0	567.6	265.4	31.86	54.98
Two clear bellies,	19	1⁄2	0		8,845.2		19	4	8,731.8	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	36.09	52.69	741.2	14.33	106.2	362.1	468.3	272.9	36.82	48.84
Two short-cut hams,	23	1⁄2	0		10,659.6		23	5	10,574.6	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	60.29	22.19	532.5	22.95	122.2	88.3	210.5	322.0	60.47	16.58
Two New York shoulders,	20	1⁄2	0		9,298.8		20	10	9,395.5	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	54.97	29.01	532.5	17.65	94.0	152.9	246.9	285.6	53.64	28.71
Four feet (seven hoofs),	3	1⁄2	0	[3]	1,594.2	[4]	..		1,514.1	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	59.78	17.04	221.1	25.10	55.5	33.7	89.2	131.9	59.66	15.24
Spareribs,	5		0		2,268.0		..		2,212.0	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	50.33	30.05	359.9	20.81	74.9	98.6	173.5	186.4	51.78	27.39
Tenderloins,	1		0		453.6		..		470.8	67.14	9.14	427.9	27.11	116.0	26.6	142.6	285.3	66.67	6.21
Neck bones,	2		0		907.2		..		842.5	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	53.82	28.72	390.6	20.02	78.2	100.5	178.7	211.9	54.25	25.73
Backbones,	3	1⁄2	0		1,587.6		..		1,580.0	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	51.89	27.16	397.5	22.24	88.4	102.1	190.5	207.0	52.08	25.69
Trimmings,	18		0		8,164.8		16	9	7,512.8	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	29.68	62.00	783.7	9.72	76.3	479.2	555.5	228.2	29.11	61.17
Tail,		1⁄4	0		113.4		..		363.0	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Meat,	..				..		..		..	23.99	69.25	199.2	8.73	17.4	134.7	152.1	47.1	23.64	67.62
Total,	132	1⁄4	0		59,995.2		..		58,789.6	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

[3] Missing hoof, 6.6 grams.

[4] Corrected for missing hoof.

Preparation of Samples for Analyses.

—The meat obtained from all of the cuts of the same kind in each sample was passed through a meat chopper two or three times in order to get an even, finely divided condition. A portion of known weight was then placed in a dish and dried in a steam oven at a temperature of boiling water or slightly above and heated until the fat had well separated so that it could be poured off into a flask, with care not to remove any of the water which may have separated with it. Small samples were removed before drying for the determination of the exact quantity of fat and water therein, and the results of these analyses were used for calculating the relative portion of the large samples. Samples of skin, bones, marrow, spinal cord, tendons, hoofs, and other parts of the animal were also carefully secured and subjected to analyses. In this way the whole animal was subjected to examination for analytical data, and at the same time each particular part of it, in so far as its relation to the market is concerned, was kept separated. In Table A are found the weight of the whole cut and the data relative to the preparation of the air-dried sample.

The data show that there was a slight loss of water during the transit from Chicago to Washington. The part of the pig which has the largest percentage of fat is the meat of the tail, while the smallest percentage is found in the tenderloins. The largest percentage of water in any part of the meat is in the tenderloins and the smallest in the meat of the tail.