VALUE OF PASTEURISATION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 234, 21 June 1918, Page 8

VALUE OF PASTEURISATION

- AUSTRALIA'S KXt'EKIKXCM. "Another illustration of the vnlue of pasteurisation in the niitnut'acllire cf butler, in which good keeping i|iiniily is essential, wns afforded recently, when 11 portion of Ihe butter in Ihe winter pool watt placed on the inurkel," siiyd the latest. Sydney "Daily Telegraph" to hand. "Two thousand boxes were relea.sed tor the purpose of making up the (shortage in grocers' supplies. 'J'liU butter had been in store for upward;! of ten weeks, null, on the average, il opened out very well. "11, however, affords a striking commentary in favour of pasteurisation, more particularly for butler that may be, placed in cold storage for* several weeks. There was not, very much unpasteurised butler in the 20110 boxes released, but what there was showed marked signs of deterioration. These isolated brands, the majority of which when placed in store were of high grade quality, and would have realised top prices if' sold as fresh butter for immediate consumption, failed to maintain their quality, and Allowed a distinct iishiness in flavour. On the other hand, the pasteurised butlers proved to be hound ami clean when opened up. Indeed, in quite a number of instances the eight Or ten weeks in cold storage had a beneficial effect ill regard to the, llnvour of the latter. "A large proportion of the factories in New South Wales have, during the past few years, adopted pasteurisation, and the advantages that have been derived from its use have amply compensated for the initial expense of the installation of the plant. About 60 per cent, of the butler factories are rtow using pasteurisation, and the effect of this is clearly demonstrated in the improvement thai lias taken place in the keeping quality of New Soiiith Wales butter during tho last few years.

"Of course, the whole of the improvement cannot justly' be credited to pasteurisation, but a considerable proportion of it is due to the more universal adoption of this scientific method of manufacture. A. few of Iho factories in Ihe past have hesitated to introduce the system on the ground of the initial expense, but the experience J.ow gained of the keeping qualities of the two butters released from tho winter pool clearly demonstrates the cash advantage thai is to be derived from scientific manufacture, when a good keeping butler is desired.

"The falling-off in the quality of 6ome of the unpasteurised brands was so pronounced that the matter i 6 worthy of wider attention thin it is likely to receive. The directors of the factories in question would do well to make a comparison between the two butters, as a very valuable object: lesson is afforded by an examination. One can then realise the extent to which unpasteurised butter can deteriorate in a period of eight or ten weeks. The difference between a box of the unpasteurised and a box of the pasteurised was obvious even to the uninitiated. There was n distinct flavour of fishiness in the former, while the latter was clean and sweet. Yet both of the boxes before going into the cold store were of practically c-qiifll merit when judged solely on the basis of fresh butler. But after a comparatively short period of storage tho pasteurised butter actually showed evidence _ of improvement, while the unpasteurized had fallen Off lo such an extent that there was no question of comparison—the one was a. first-grade butter, aud the other K characterised by its inferiority."