ADULTERATION OF BUTTER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 900, 20 August 1910, Page 8

ADULTERATION OF BUTTER.

r : ' COMPOSITION' OF AUSTRALIAN ■; . :article. >./ /;-./ /■ ''■■■■■''. The' introduction of. scientific prin- . ciples to butter-making and of modern ■ machinery- into the manufacture, ap-' ■ pears, to have led tho way to a concli'•;iion of .things which make the adulter- .. /ation of dairy, products 'a profitable ,:.business, said, Mr. M. A.- O'Callaghaii '. ■' in, a paper read before the Butter Factory Managers' Conference in Sydney. : ■ Tho paper proceeds: With tho great improvement which .applied science .and ;. . modern machinery have- brought about ,in ! the quality of butter, a greatly, in,.creased ',demand,; aud -"a very much '. higher consumption of 'butter per head .have resulted! ' The perfecting of re- /■ frigerating processes was. the next step, "■.'. Tvhich ; led. to a still further increase "in;.the consumption of. butter through- / out the world/ , At'.one time in the history of ,the British Isles;, and that not /.very;long ago, the price of. good butter ■'.' during /winter was: so high that it was : ;e".luxury to any but the rich. ' The average man who consumed butter , in , •■' tho. winter ".time in the days prior to jefrigeration had to put.: up with a vSieavily-salted article which was held ■over from the summer' and autumn manufacture. ' : . ■.. . ■ .. . /■• :■'.'•" ' The,development .of refrigeration, iowever,-. put, a very different complex- '■'. Soul.on' [the winter: butter trade '.of " .' and with a : greatly : . increased .Jtrade, the prospects for the "making of money by'-' the manufacturer, and : the .: retailer of imitation butter became vtsry ■ /great, and'as- a consequence the manu'facture. of high-class margarine was ■ perfected, j. As time went on, anatyti-. cal methods were ' discovered which ■Bided- the 'detectionV:of ■ foreign fat, '. and .when it,w'is : shown that the butr- ■ 4ers.,whicht.were 1 -being consumed were ■adulterated to a' considerable extent, /Jegal'steps were tiaken. by nearly .every. .; 'European , country to. prevent tho sale ,'; of these. mixtures'; as pure. butter. . Tho :public,.however, ; had- been . 'educated. 1 that it was possible to.make;a very .palatable substitutp. for. butter, i which not 'only pleasant to taste, .but •■': Was also .nutritious; and' wholesome, •■ so , that, .'the. .'margarine; industry /became -fully established,'and now there "is in • Europe >a large trade 'in this' commod-! ■;"ity'.'....•;■■.•"'■. ■:'... :>■,"■'' " ■/:.. : ■■•:' /:' : ." : .- .; Through the opposition,to margarine .'toeing: sold , as butter ,> "milk-bleudecl. lutter?' came , on the market. .-. It .had teen 'found..,that: Australasian butter ; contained,.less"moisture but-' ■<ter -of Mother, countries,- and quantities :«f ,the,drier product were purchased by C who added moisture to it, ■ and resold:it. ■■•■;" ■•'■ ■'■-.'.':,',".. '• .'■ '■ ■. " ¥ Advertisements.:': ; ; .. ;• : '.';' Because, however, .no , prosecutions ~'Jiaye occurred in.connection, with NewiSoutt Wales butters, we'do not escape ::in.;any. ; way: the ..great;, disadvantage V--J .placed ou all. Australian butter. :: ; Every State's butter .is sold: as Australian ;.' : .'butter,''.arjd-'.tha'.ietiul grocor does not, ■■"as'a-generalyrule, recognise any differ-" : .enee;.between .the , -'butters .from "the ■.'various .Australian States.:. 'So far.i'as 4e ; is concerned, it is all Australian, ' (and.l^know.from. past experience that, ;, ..iheUmill' grocer,;is'very .unwilling in.'Sdeed'.to, handle any. butter whereby .ho, ..' ' . '.'ni '..'.; .Before the' centrifugal ■ skimming sys- . iiem-became generally adopted , in Ire- ■: 'Jand -the -manufacture of dairy butter ■~ (Containing water 'between 18 and 24 : >per oent./was very,'general,, the excess ...iwater- having'.■ been added in the shapo r.pf .brino, with", tlio-object.of improving ■ghe. keeping' qualities .of : the butter. r'-ipPor .many-, years'this -class of ,'butter. ';..'■ jiad- been in great, request, but when '■'.. modern: machinery ' and ' manufacture the .public ia 'drier 'butter;: the ■ ■ iquestion of, excess .water >in. Irish bulr' •■; ter . raised,', and several prosecu- :' itipM-, followed,, culminating . in s a- final jtest^case.at Manchester, 'wherein, the litter,'merchants{organised"'an able de- ■■ 'Jenoej-resulting in .a dismissal of the ...casein question, it : having been clearly ; ibown that -the: water was not added, i. for the purpose ; of fraud... Cousider,-.....able^damage,-however, • had/been done, . '..and' many grocers .declined'to handle '-. v/this class of butter at. all, despite l the '•;'. ifacfc' thai; the butter merchants were '.willing to. guarantee them against pen- . ■ '•: by prosecution. The retailer : [dreaded the bad advertisement which -,■.'■' always.' follows ;on 'a prosecution for ■ adulteration of butter, and aecided to his -attention to those" brands.of' i. butter which,, by- their: absence of- ex- '- .cessive' water, /guaranteed, him against .-Tisk of prosccuticfl., . '.. 5 The Colonial Risk.. '■.'"'""'■,,•'.■ .-■i/":" Australia-has-reached a stage when .■.■"''its-!butter..trado is somewhat in the ■sime position as-was the manufacture , -of Irish , dairy butter at .'. A '' few more prosecutions '. and ■' o'iir position will not' be.' at all an oiiyiable one. If 'tile retail, grocer becomes j alarmed, it '"■•'.'(fill-:take! considerable tiine,and good work to overcome hjs fears'of'prosecu- ■■; tions; and in connection with thismat- : : ter we must bear in mind that'we have all the-infliience; of'the'person whom ..'•: wo have named the. "butter.. fakir" ' :.against us,' for tho 'simple reasoii that lo.objects to/our giving him a butter ." which does not allow him to add as .'much moisture/-to it as formerly, and .'■ teep within the 24 per. cent limit., of ;',. milk-blended butter. "Wo also have, to ■/■■ contend'with the; legitimate , .butterblender, who uses Australian: butter •;'. yeiy largel) foi - lli» purpose of .blend-•-:;\ing with finglish and other, buttors, and ■-.-•thereby manufactures a blend of I butter ■ .in the same way that tlio ■ merchants'I ■•;: manufacture a blend' of tea which suits '■■ the tastes ■of . their customers, and :;. which'they 'are able to 'supply .through.out the entire'3'ear.,;,: ■"-.. Afleoting Water Content. ■•'.'.•'We cannot very well ■ discuss tho .: question , of "water in butter standards" without taking into account' the in-- , fluences which affect the percentage ■water, which.:shall be found, in butter. Under this heading.various items have been considered from timo to time by different , experimentalists throughout the.world.;'..l.have always found that tho items which affect tho percentage of .water most are temperatures and Bait. Under the heading of temperature's we have to consider . several tilings, mainly the temperature at . which.tho cream is churned, the temperature of tho water used for wash- . ing the butter, and tho temperature of the butter during the process of : : working, and we will now briefly consider these items. ■ . -' • 'If the temperature of the cream is • too.high, : it is practically impossible to /■make the butter, without churning it into .small lumps, and though we may '.reduce the temperature of the butter , by the aid. of. cold water for washing, ' still we cannot reduce the tempera-ture-of the butter in the centre of these small lumps,' though they may not be, more than half an inch in diameter. As a'.consequence, unless such butter is placed in a cold room and thoroughly cooled down and ro- ■ worked, it will not be possible to.manufacture a butter. containing a low percentage of water, and even: then tho butter has to be somewhat overworked before the desired point is obtained.' Tho actions of 'wash-water and of salt as affecting the water content, fea-ve also to be considered.