A very small amount of the meat produced in this country at the present
time is consumed near its place of slaughter. Cold storage plants and
refrigerator cars have been constructed for the purpose of preserving
meats until they can reach their destination, and to hold them awaiting
market advances for the benefit of packers and tradesmen.
[Sidenote: Decomposition of cold storage meat]
Meat in cold storage is slowly undergoing a form of decomposition which
is evidenced by the fact that cold storage meat decays much more
rapidly upon its removal from storage than do the same cuts of fresh
meat.
The process of ripening meat in rooms of varying temperatures depends
upon this form of decomposition. The natural enzyms of the meat, and the
bacteria contained therein, digest a portion of the proteids, forming
nitrogenous decomposition products, similar to the above-mentioned meat
extractives. Ripened or storage meats contain a much larger per cent of
this group of compounds than does fresh meat.
[Sidenote: "Ripened meat" a step toward decay]
The high flavor and "peculiar rich taste" of ripened meats is produced
by these decomposition products, while the decay of the gelatinoid or
connective tissue is the primary reason for its tenderness. There are
certain species of bacteria that produce more poisonous waste-products
than others, and this occasionally causes the development of ptomains
in storage meat.
[Sidenote: A choice between two evils]
The use of flesh as an article of food is fraught with many serious
and scientific objections, but the use of cold storage or ripened
animal products is to be condemned from every standpoint of hygiene.
Nevertheless, if people insist upon using flesh foods, and economical
conditions make it profitable to produce them far from their place of
consumption, cold storage methods seem inevitable. The choice between
storage meats and home-killed is, in its last analysis, a matter of
selecting the lesser of two evils.