The souring of hams is a matter of considerable importance to those
engaged in the meat-packing industry, and has been the occasion of no
little worry, as in even the best-regulated packing establishments
the yearly losses it entails are considerable. The subject has given
rise to much speculation on the part of those engaged in the curing
of meats, as to the cause of the trouble and how it may be remedied,
and has received considerable attention in a practical way, but little
seems to have been done in a scientific way toward determining the
cause and nature of ham souring.
In a well-regulated meat-packing establishment the loss from ham
souring is usually figured at about one-tenth of 1 per cent of the
total weight of hams cured. At first thought this would seem but a
small loss, but when one reflects that in a single large packing
establishment some 3,000,000 hams are cured during the year, the loss,
when figured out, is considerable. Taking 15 pounds as the average
weight of a ham, 3,000,000 hams would represent 45,000,000 pounds of
meat. Figuring the loss from souring on the basis mentioned, the amount
of meat condemned and destroyed during the year would be 45,000 pounds.
Assuming that hams sell at an average wholesale price of 15 cents a
pound, the yearly loss for a single plant which cures 3,000,000 hams a
year would be nearly $7,000.
While one-tenth of 1 per cent of the total weight of hams cured would
represent the loss from souring in a well-regulated establishment,
statistics obtained through Government meat inspectors show that
0.25 per cent would more nearly represent the loss for the entire
country. During the fiscal year from July 1, 1908, to June 30, 1909,
some 670,000,000 pounds of hams were placed in cure in packing
establishments subject to Government inspection. Estimating the loss
from souring at 0.25 per cent, the total amount of meat condemned
and destroyed as sour would be 1,675,000 pounds. At 15 cents a pound
the total annual loss from ham souring in packing houses subject to
Government inspection would figure up something over a quarter of a
million of dollars.
The problem of ham souring, therefore, is quite an important one from a
practical and financial standpoint; but aside from these considerations
it is also a subject of considerable scientific interest, and in
view of the fact that all sour meats are condemned under the Federal
regulations governing meat inspection it has seemed fitting that this
question should be made the subject of scientific investigation on the
part of the Bureau which is charged with the administration of this
inspection.
The investigation reported in this paper has been conducted chiefly
along bacteriological lines, and has been confined entirely to the wet
method of curing hams, as this method is the one generally used in
American packing houses.