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The Sanitary Control of Tomato-Canning Factories
Title
The Sanitary Control of Tomato-Canning Factories
Subject
commercial canning
Excerpt
Marked changes in machinery and methods for the manufacture of food products have been made in the last 6 or 8 years under the stimulus of Federal and State pure food and sanitary laws. The manufacturer has come to appreciate the need for more sanitary methods. Certain individuals, firms, and corporations, of their own initiative, have blazed a path out of questionable or unsanitary surroundings in advance of Federal or State laws imposing such, reforms. Much credit is due manufacturers of this type who are willing to improve their methods of manufacture regardless of the existence or nonexistence of laws making such improvements imperative. At the other extreme is that small class of manufacturers who are in- different to the character of their product, either from the standpoint of sanitation or from that of quality, as long as their product can be disposed of at a financial profit.
Between these two extreme types of manufacturers, one of which is alert and active in seeking constantly to improve conditions, and the other of which is devoid of care or interest in the business beyond the financial profit obtainable, there is a third and much larger class. This class comprises those men who are willing to make improvements in keeping with sound, sanitary practice, but whose experience, because of the purely commercial aspects of their business, has given them no opportunity personally to study the sanitary problems of their factories and to apply the information gained in a practical manner. In other words, many manufacturers are deterred from making improvements because of lack of knowledge either of the fundamental reasons for such improvements or of how to proceed.
The willingness of this class of manufacturers to make improvements, however, has rendered possible the great changes that have taken place in recent years in mechanical contrivances for cleaning and handling the various products used in the manufacture of foods. This progress is especially well illustrated in the tomato industry. For example, only a few years ago the sorting of tomatoes in the manufacture of ketchup and pulp was very uncommon, while to-day very few manufacturers do not at least profess to observe this step, however ineffectively the process sometimes may be performed. Various forms of tables and machines have been devised to assist in this important step of manufacture. Many forms of tomato-washing machines found in common use 6 or 7 years ago have become so obsolete that they are being consigned rapidly to the scrap heap as inadequate to meet present-day requirements. Processes, such as the "gravity system" of draining off the watery juice from pulp which was so very largely practiced less than 10 years ago, have been discarded by firms that are trying to keep abreast of their fellow manufacturers in matters of sanitation and quality. The custom of storing in barrels — general a few years ago — has now practically disappeared, except for the poorest grades of products. The barrel has been re- placed by the 5 or 6 gallon tin can. The writer recalls having seen at one plant thousands of barrels in one lot being offered for sale because the firm had no further use for them, as it had adopted the more satisfactory system of storing its product in cans.
The manufacture of sanitary food products is too broad a problem to be covered in one publication. In the present bulletin the discussion will be limited to those conditions which apply particularly to tomato-canning factories. It is proposed to discuss some of the more important points concerning sanitary control of plants of this kind in a rather elementary manner and to avoid technicalities as far as possible.
Between these two extreme types of manufacturers, one of which is alert and active in seeking constantly to improve conditions, and the other of which is devoid of care or interest in the business beyond the financial profit obtainable, there is a third and much larger class. This class comprises those men who are willing to make improvements in keeping with sound, sanitary practice, but whose experience, because of the purely commercial aspects of their business, has given them no opportunity personally to study the sanitary problems of their factories and to apply the information gained in a practical manner. In other words, many manufacturers are deterred from making improvements because of lack of knowledge either of the fundamental reasons for such improvements or of how to proceed.
The willingness of this class of manufacturers to make improvements, however, has rendered possible the great changes that have taken place in recent years in mechanical contrivances for cleaning and handling the various products used in the manufacture of foods. This progress is especially well illustrated in the tomato industry. For example, only a few years ago the sorting of tomatoes in the manufacture of ketchup and pulp was very uncommon, while to-day very few manufacturers do not at least profess to observe this step, however ineffectively the process sometimes may be performed. Various forms of tables and machines have been devised to assist in this important step of manufacture. Many forms of tomato-washing machines found in common use 6 or 7 years ago have become so obsolete that they are being consigned rapidly to the scrap heap as inadequate to meet present-day requirements. Processes, such as the "gravity system" of draining off the watery juice from pulp which was so very largely practiced less than 10 years ago, have been discarded by firms that are trying to keep abreast of their fellow manufacturers in matters of sanitation and quality. The custom of storing in barrels — general a few years ago — has now practically disappeared, except for the poorest grades of products. The barrel has been re- placed by the 5 or 6 gallon tin can. The writer recalls having seen at one plant thousands of barrels in one lot being offered for sale because the firm had no further use for them, as it had adopted the more satisfactory system of storing its product in cans.
The manufacture of sanitary food products is too broad a problem to be covered in one publication. In the present bulletin the discussion will be limited to those conditions which apply particularly to tomato-canning factories. It is proposed to discuss some of the more important points concerning sanitary control of plants of this kind in a rather elementary manner and to avoid technicalities as far as possible.
Creator
Howard, Burton James
Stephenson, Charles Henry
Date
1917
Relation
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin Number 569