DAIRY PRODUCE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 53, 26 November 1926, Page 12

DAIRY PRODUCE

TREATMENT IN BRITAIN

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT DAIRY BOARD’S INSPECTION An indication of the need for supervision in the handling and distribution of New Zealand dairy produce is given in a special report by the Dairy Board's refrigerating expert, Mr. F. W. Grainger, as published in the November “Dairy Exporter” Mr. Grainger’s report covers observations of conditions gained by a comprehensive inspection of all stores and ports in Britain concerned with our produce. His recommendations are of course confidential at this stage pending full consideration and decision by the board, but evidence leading up to those recommendations is of interest.

Mr. Grainger was instructed to report on two main points: first, improvement in some details of the shipping equipment and treatment of produce, on voyage, with a view to minimising damage, particularly to cheese; secondly, the facilities for and cost of requiring all dairy produce to pass through cool store in Britain prior to distribution, instead of suffering undue loss through being held in ordinary atmospheres pending sale Negotiations with the experts of the shipping companies concerned proved quite satisfactory, and improved regulations were agreed upon. Present Practices. Mr. Grainger’s report opens with the statement: The present methods of handling and the general care of dairy’produce at the various ports of discharge, both in London and on the West Coast ports, leave much room for improvement. In London the present practice is to discharsr* produce into wharf sheds for sortin'’ to marks, and snbmarks. Some of these sheds are of corrugated iron with glass skylights running the length of the building and consequently are verv hot. A temperature of 86deg. Fah. at 11.30 a.nr.* was registered on one occasion, and it was stated that it often reached 90 deg. Fah. during the aff-n r.n n -J.e hot monuis. w Defrosted and Refrozeit.

Particular cases are mentioned of produce remaining in ordinary atmospheres for too long a period. In one case the temperature of cheese was 68 deg. Fahr., and butter 50 deg to 52 deg. Fahr. This cheese was landed at a temperature of 41 deg. and butter IS deg to 20 deg. Fahr. All of the butter boxes in other cases were very wet, due to condensation, and the conditions were such as to induce mould growth in the butter when stored, due to wet timber. .... It would be desirable to eliminate the sorting at the dock stores and take delivery direct ex the ship into either railway insulated truck or barge as mav be decided, and ‘Have sorting done in 'cool sorting floor and transferred direct to cool store, thus cutting out the loss and deterioration which at present occurs in the method of handling our produce, due to it being defrosted and again refrozen. Inspection Required. Dealing with the need for inspection, Mr. Grainger says:— . I feel sure it will be in the interests of the producers to have our own inspector to watch the handling of our produce at the point of discharge, to see if it is properly handled, and that it gets quick dispatch to cool store. Such a man would watch for any damaged produce, take charge of thermographs when these are installed, and, in the case of damage, inspect the steamer’s hold and report back fully to New Zealand when and how the' damage has occurred. He would also have the right to inspect any cold stores where New Zealand produce is stored, to see that correct temperatures are being maintained, and generally to look to all matters affecting the' condition of produce at this end. During mv visits to the London docks, on three separate occasions, I have been able to ascertain the actual cause of damage to produce landed. In one case damage was due to condensation from cheese stowed under air trunks; in another the butter was wet and dirty, due to leaky brine grids and coal dust at time of loading. In the a large quantity of cheese decomposed, due to drip from trays and excessive moisture. In the above eases it was left to the ship’s surveyor, or, rather, wharf labourers, to pick out damaged cheese, and in the case of the I picked out quite a number of cases damaged which had been stacked as good. A separate report on this shipment has been prepared. Had such an inspector been on duty this season it would have

saved a considerable sum, as he would undoubtedly have traced our produce to stores which are quite unsuitable, and also seen that prompt dispatch from wharf sheds was made to e cool store. We have seen a large quantity of more or less damaged cheese in different warehouses, some of which had been returned by buyers. Some of this cheese we saw in the middle of September was October make (the previous year). Cheese Storage Bad. In the section dealing with the present storage facilities frank comment is made concerning the conditions under which cheese in particular has been held. Of one place it is said: — No air circulation is provided, except that due to openings at either end, and, although this would possibly be all right in winter, say, November, December, January, February, it is wrong during the hot months. At the time of our visit (September) the temperature ranged from 77 degrees to 68 degrees F. The cheese was all more or less generally heated badly, and some very far gone, having expanded out between the battens. There was a large quantity of New Zealand cheese here. No doubt high percentages of shrinkage could be traced to storage such as this, and one could not help contrasting the appearance of our cheese in this place with that of Canadian stored at a temperature of 50 degrees F. It is doubtful if New Zealand dairy companies are aware that their produce is being subjected to such adverse conditions on this side. It certainly is undoing all the good which has been achieved in New Zealand and during transport. The reason it is used is that it is much cheaper than cool stor-

age, hence merchants use it. Of another store it ‘is said:—This storage is quite unfit to hold cheese in. At the time of my visit there was 22,500 crates (1800 tons, approximately) of New Zealand cheese in store. Some had been there approximately three months. It was very mitey, with many bad, soft, and decomposed crowns, and would undoubtedly result in considerable loss to the dairy companies concerned. After outlining in detail the capacity and facilities of some twenty stores in London and elsewhere, the report makes important recommendations covering negotiations for improvement in conditions and rates.