—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 16, 1973
18
Meat Analyzer Measures Fat Content At A Glance
A device that measures the fat
content of ground beef accurately
and instantaneously has been
invented by two scientists of the
U. S Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
The first commercial version of
this fat tester was demonstrated
last week in New York City.
It is designed to give super
markets and butcher shops an
inexpensive tool that can
guarantee consumers ground
beef of specific fat content.
Possibilities are good that the
tester can be adapted to measure
the amount of fat in other ground
meats, including pork, lamb and
chicken.
Twin Valley FFA Members
To Hatch Same Bird Eggs
In an effort to prevent the loss
of many game birds, members of
the Twin Valley FFA will attempt
to hatch pheasant and quail eggs
from nests damaged during
routine farming operations.
With the removal of many farm
fencerows the pheasants and
quail are forced to lay their eggs
in hay fields. At about the time
the farmer is mowing hay, the
birds are starting to incubate
their eggs. Members of the Twin
Valley wildlife committee have
borrowed incubators from tbfe
high school science department
I
I Volume-Belt Cattle Feeder |
| Phone 393-3906
w' 1305 Manheim Pike Lancaster, Pa. 17601
This new food quality analyzer
was devised by electronic
technician George F. Button Jr,
and engineer Karl H. Norris of
USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) at Beltsville, Md.
It is a product of continuing ARS
research to develop instruments
capable of measuring quality in
foods and other agricultural
products. The inventors have
applied for a public-service
patent on the fat tester.
Although fat conten largely
determines the quality of ground
beef, butchers have had no easy
way to measure it. Most have
relied on experience and
judgment to pack ground beef
to try to save some of the eggs
from destroyed nests.
Farmers destroying nests
while doing routine operations
are urged to contact one of the
following wildlife committee
members to have the eggs picked
up:
West Nantmeal Area - John
McNeill, 286-5642; Honey Brook
Area - John Miller, 273-3177;
Robert Evans, 273-3995;
Geigertown Area - Ron Dan
necker, 286-6152; Geoffrey Fultz,
582-3649; Green Hills Area - Jeff
Boltz, 856-7668.
The eggs should be kept warm
until the FFA member' arrives to
pick them up. After the eggs are
hatched, the members will raise
the young birds until they are self
sufficient and then release them
either around their homes or in
the environmental education
area of the school district.
Robert Evans
Wildlife Committee Chairman
Petrified Forest
The Petrified Forest is
part of Arizona’s Painted
Desert and has the world’s
largest known display of
petrified wood. These trees
were killed by fire, insects
and fungus; then covered by
mud, sand and volcanic ash
containing silica. The wood
became petrified by absorb
ing silica carried by ground
water.
Only 1-1/2 hp. Up to 250 Feet
Big Capacity Belt Carries Feed
Works In-Barn or Out
with different amounts of fat for
their customers. Laws limiting
fat content and requiring ac
curate labeling have made the
amount of fat in ground meat a
critical factor. Some super
markets are using a chemical
test of fat content to guide but
chers, but a faster, easier test has
been needed. The ARS-developed
analyzer meets these
requirements.
This hand-portable instrument
is simply placed on top of a
package of ground beef. A meter
needle immediately points to a
dial number indicating the
percentage of fat in the
package. Range of the dial is 0 to
50 percent. Fat content can be
measured either through the
usual plastic wrapper or with the
wrapper removed.
Tests of the analyzer with
ground beef varying in fat con
tent from 10 to 35 percent were
made at Beltsville under the
direction of Dr. Anthony W.
Kotula, ARS food technologist.
Meter readings in these tests
agreed with results of standard
extraction procedures within a
standard error of one percent.
' 'A
NEW
999
CON
Greater capacity
Operates with less poti ailfc'ffl
Requires less
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Operate in heavy hay or sudax a gear faster. Full-width conditioning rolls
eliminate dead spots that waste power. And you’ll find there’s no power loss
due to side draft on hillsides or on the level.
You get increased capacity because larger diameter 44-inch reel is less
affected by changing crop conditions. And, the unique position of the reel
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hesitation. What s more, controlled platform float and self-compensating
roll pressure lets you move from field to field, crop to crop and rarelv ever
readjust the 990. J
Call us for a demonstration
MMESSICK FARM EQUIPMENT 111
■ 2750 N. Market St., Elizabethtown, Pa. Ph. 717-367-1319
Basic principle of the fat tester
is light reflectance. Using
modern electro-optical
technology, the shape of the
reflectance curves of meat
samples can be analyzed to
reveal the fat content of the
samples. The reflectance curves
for ground meat show a slight dip
in the near-infrared portion of the
spectrum between 930 and 950 nm
(nanometers, or billionths of a
meter). This dip reflects the
amount of fat in the meat.
The instrument developed by
Button and Norris uses four
flashlight lamps mounted in a
tube to illuminate the meat
p«mr
DANIEL S. ESH
Box 351, RDI Ronks, Pa.
COMPLETE BARN AND
INDUSTRIAL PAINTING
Water proofing on block walls
(5 year guarantee)
Write for Free Estimates and Service.
USED HAY EQUIPMENT
459 New Holland Haybme
46 I.H. Baler Good Condition
268 N.H. Baler (Good)
International 4 Bar Steel Wheel Rake
New Holland 24 Ft. Elevator
New Holland Wagon with Flat Bed.
New Holland 1010 Bale Wagon
International model 200 Tractor with Cultivator
Farmall H Tractor
FOR ALL YOUR HAYING EQUIPMENT
SEE US-WE HAVE IT
sample. The reflected radiation
is collected by an optical scan
ning system that incorporates a
vibrating mirror and in
terference filter, coupled to a
silicon solar cell. The output from
the solar cell is amplified and
sorted into two measuring
signals, one representing the
average reflectance of the meat
sample and the other the change
in reflectance noted by the
scanner between 930 and 950 mn.
A solid-state computer circuit
then processes the two signals to
produce appropriate needle
deflection on a meter calibrated
directly in percent fat.