Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1876 — Is Rare Beef Dangerous ? [ARTICLE]

Is Rare Beef Dangerous ?

For several years past hygienists and pathologists have been closely studying the progressive Invasion of the tamiodea or tape worms in the human species, in order to discover all the causes which lead to the presence of these terrible parasites and the means of preventing them. While many vital points relating to the subject are still in controversy, it has been demonstrated that we are attacked by the armed taenia (tafiia solium) and by the non-armed taenia (Usnia medio eannelluta or inermis), that the genus of these two entozoa are introduced into the intestinal canal through flesh food, and that the germs of the first usually come from pork and those of the second from beef and mutton. It has furthermore been pointed out, by M. Reguault, that, while the number of attacks of the armed taenia has not notably augmented, those of the non-armed worm are becoming more and more frequent. The cause attributed to this increase is, first, the therapeutic use of raw beef, and, second, the habit of eating that meat, as well as mutton (the latter, however, in „ a less degree than the former), in a very rare state. Both beef and mutton contain morbific germs, which might well escape the scrutiny of a much more rigid inspection of market food than obtains here; and these, lodged in some organ of the body, speedily develop into the mature worm. Cooldng the meat through thoroughly is a sure safeguard; but on the other hand, there are many who have no relish for well done beef or mutton, and, among the Germans especially, the meat is prepared in various ways without being cooked at all. We have frequently seen raw beef-steak served and eaten with the simple uccompatiments of pepper, salt and vinegar. Butchers in New York City chop finely the good meat which is trimmed from joints or bones, and sell it in its hashed state, at a low price, to the poorer classes, who likewise eat it raw, and thus save the fuel required for cooking. As indicated above, physicians often prescribe raw meat to the weak and debilitated, and it is no very uncommon tiling to see infants sucking tender pieces of raw steak. Of course all this is dangerous, and the fact, we have reason to believe, is not entirely unknown to those who favor the practice; but on the other hand, there is a general idea that if meat be cooked ever so little, merely warmed through, all peril is obviated. That this is a subtle error will be clear from a brief consideration of the cooking process. The rationale of broiling is the subjection of a large surface of meat to a sudden high temperature. Coagulation of the exterior albumen succeeds, and the juices are prevented from escaping, so that they are cooked with the fibrous part of the meat, enclosed as it were between two shells. Roasting, or rather baking, as it is practiced in this country, is virtually the same process, the hot oven being substituted for the coals. Frying accomplishes the same end by the action of highly heated fat. Boiling is just the reverse, as the heat iu that case is applied gradually, so that the albumen can be coagulated uniformly through the mass. Now albumen coagulates at 142 degrees Fall., and further heat reduces it to a firm transparent body, so that a piece of beef which is left “unbasted,” that is, unmoistened, during the cooking process, and its exterior temperatures not thus kept down, or a steak allowed to cook slowly over a slow instead of a brisk fire, is likely to become encased in a close crust, not inaptly termed “ leathery,” which tends to prevent the further penetration of heat. It will readily be perceived that thus, although the meat has been subjected to cooking a proper length of time, and although its exterior may appear overdone, a part of its interior may be practically raw, and may never have reached the temperature of 140 degrees, beyond which it has been proved germ-life cannot exist. Hence, in such portion of the meat thus prepared, the germs are none the worse for their warming, and enter the body in an active state.

It does not follow, however, from this that we are to interdict that most noble of all dishes, the rare cut of sirloin, but it does follow that we should exercise some greater care in its preparation. And in lis respect we have a very safe and simple guide in the two temperatures noted above, or rather In their close approximation. Everybody knows the difference in color and general appearance between meat nearly raw and meat cooked, and is capable of observing the glairy, flabby condition of the former as compared.with the firmness of the latter. In one case the albumen has not coagulated, in the other it has. But in the latter instance we know that a temperature of 142 degrees has been attained, and that is two degrees higher than the germ death point; hence we are thus rendered certain that the danger is obviated, on simple inspection of the condition of the meat, which still is rare enough to satisfy any healthy taste. It is not difficult to perceive that the ravages of that other fearful pprasite, of the hog, the trichina spiralis, have been the cause of greater care in the preparation of pork; and as the same thorough cooking which destroys the trichina likewise destroys the taenia germ, both evils are obviated at once. Hence we find another cause for the diminution in cases of armed taenia noted by Regnault, while the prevalent neglect of precautions regarding beef and mutton may likewise account for the spread of the affliction attributable to those meats. It is a curious fact in this connection that a prominent French medical journal (the AbeiUe Medicals) strongly recommends horse flesh to be used raw therapeutically, and asserts that it is much more nourishing than either beef, mutton, or pork. We doubt whether this last assertion will meet with general acquiescence; but if it appears, as our contemporary states, that the horse is not subject to the parasitic affections common to the cattle now used as food, there can be no question but that, from a sanitary point of view, the food value of our superannuated chargers is greatly enhanced. At all events, for some reason the consumption of horseflesh in France is rapidly increasing, as recent statistics show that nearly thirty per cent, more of the animals have been slaughtered, for the markets in Paris, during 1876 than; were killed last year .—Scientific American.

You have to draw the line in society somewhere, and die sextons in the Boston churches draw it what they call the “ side aisle trash.”