FAKED BUTTER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 8

FAKED BUTTER.

HOW AUSTRALIA SUFFERS. b a THE BLENDING EVIL. t An interesting report on the Australian s butter trade in England has been pre- ? imred by Sir George lioid, High Com- 5 missrloner. Tho report goes to prove that * the butter trade in England is very unsatisfactory, and that, unless some action a is taken to check the unscrupulous prac- ? ticcs that are being universally followed, 1' permanent injury will result to Aus- , tralian dairy imports. The commissioner " thinks that the approval given to blend- a ing by some prominent firms in London r may bo taken as evidence against the J value of a blending factory to the over- J sea trade. The purchase of good butter . ior blending will prevent gilt-edge or ' superfine butter from being marketed in n England as unblended butter when tho a country from which it came is deprived of the credit that it'is entitled to. The practice of blending is absolutely antagonistic to the laws of education, and this is reflected by the favourable. opinion now expressed by British wholesale merchants on butters that would have teen con- b • damned as inferior some years ago, be : l fore the system of blending was welcomed } : by tho importers. On this the High Com- J nuissioner sums up:— "'' , ' l It may be correctly said, he "reports, y that a largo quantity of Australian but- t tor is used for.no other purpose than to l rescue at a big,profit inferior stuff inanu- c factured in Great Britain to. send else- « where, and which could not be sold on c its merits du-GO or more shops which tho ' High Commissioner visited. Personally, : ha had undeniable proof of tho success of , tho vendor in placing imitation butter in ( the homes of tho biitter-class purchaser, c He Ims also taken advantage of every c opportunity to examine the class of butter i used in large restaurants, and has good < cause to say that the faked article is } gaining in popularity, to the' detriment * and injury of the Australian butter ex- , port trade. Ho .ashed pertinently .what j becomes of all the Australian butter trade, t and finds, as a result of inqniries, that 35 i per cent, is'usqd for blending with other < butters, B'per cent, blending with mar- > garine, 10 per cent, used in imitation ] butter, and 3 per cent, re-exported, and. about 50 per cent, is disposed: of under , names approved of by salesmen. ( Tho High Commissioneri regards >it as a stern truth that the absence of a sound 'system of •'. grading in Australia has shaken the confidence of , tho British trade in the reliability of but- , ter imports,' and that the confidence so imperative to the success of the dairy ; industry'will, . he thinks, only'he won ; back. by grading on lines that will leave ' no doubt as to its efficiency and thoroughness. . If factory butter from Denmark, New Zealand,' and Ireland, and the farm and factory butter.of. England ; can be sold by the British grocer as finest Danish, best New Zealand, choicest Irish, best English dairy, and pure English creamery, and command a high price, 'why should Australian butter not bo sold on its own merits? '■',' It is not because there is no demand that Australian butter is not sold' as. Australian; it is becauso no effort has been made by the Australian factories to place their butter on the market as Aus-. tralian produce, and have it identified in , tho samo way as Danish, Irish, New Zealand, or English butter.' A thorough and careful system of grading and class-mark-ing of Australian butter would advertise 'the .numerous superfine and choice brands that are exported from the States of the Commonwealth, and when once,the butter -was properly introduced it would find its own .level. It required only a beginning, and it would not be difficult to get grocers, in every town and city to show Australian butter in the saino advantageous way as Danish, while it should ho an easy matter to secure the assistance of the' press to .'make l Australian dairy produce better known. When an .improved demand was ' created, an, improved. prico would follow,'but not before. Iho High Commissioner' in this connection suggests illustrated lectures throughout Great Britain to show tho uidgnitude of tho dairying industry in Australia and the value of butter export to tho British consumer. By picture posters the virtues of Australian butter might be advertised throughout the United Kingdom. At. the present moment, he thinks not more than 20 per cent, of the population of.Great Britain is aware that such an article as Australian butter is on sale in that ■.country, while practically everybody has heard of the merits of the Danish: article.. . Answering tho question ns to whether anything can bo dono in the manufacture of Australian butter to defeat the object of the blender, the commissioner says:— "I have heard of a loose and spongy mixture and that "more: working-would produce a condition of texture similar to tho blended article, but if a recommeuda- . tion of tho sort obtains support in Australia irreparable damage might 1m done •to tho w-hole industry. Australia s distance from the Homo market makes it very necessary to exercise great care'in manufacture," ns any weakness in the but- > tor has every likelihood of showing itself to an increased, degree after the butter 7-is thawed-in London; .Irish butterjwhich 'is largely used'in England in the summer months, is w.eak arid -bodiless, and much of it, appears to.be overworked. As the butter is made for immediate con-sumption-and for blending with Danish, the same care is not given to manufacture but in regard to Australian butter the possibilities on the Continent warrant more attention than ever to improve- the general outlook, and, to this .' end, grading and marking are absolutely imperative." . -