A Bacteriological Study of Ham Souring

In 1911, the American meat-packing industry faced a microscopic enemy that cost thousands of dollars in ruined product: sour ham. Charles Neil McBryde, writing from the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, set out to identify the bacterial culprits behind this pervasive spoilage and establish scientific protocols to stop it. Through careful experiment and microscope slide, he isolates the specific microorganisms responsible for turning prized hams into foul-smelling losses, arguing that the cure for souring lies not in tradition but in understanding the invisible world teeming within every cut of meat. This is early food science at its most practical: a slender volume born from industrial necessity, written when the methods of Louis Pasteur were still being translated into everyday curing practices. For readers curious about the hidden history of what landed on the American table, this study offers a fascinating glimpse into the moment when the meat industry began its long, fraught relationship with bacteriology.