MAKING CHEESE

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 109, 11 May 1931, Page 7

MAKING CHEESE

DAIRYING PROBLEM

REVERSION TO FULL-CREAM

MINISTER'S OPINION

The desirability of reverting to the manufacture of full-cream cheese was stressed by the Minister o£ Agriculture (the lion. A. J. Murdoch) in a statement which ho issued last evening. Although' the Government regardod the dairy industry as a business concern able, to "manage its own affairs, it was the duty-of the Government to .give a lead if unanimity could not be. reached, said, the Minister. The Minister said that tho position of the checso industry had been, the subject of close observation and deep consideration for some time past. One of-the main complaints levelled against Now Zealand cheese was its lack of maturitVj and it was suggested thatthis was a matter requiring careful consideration of those engaged in the industry.' s . . "Openness, -again, is still troublesome," he said, "and the intensive research directed at finding the cause and remedy has not yet succeeded —a fact not to be wondered at when, the extreme difficulty of the task is realised. Latterly, a good deal of- trouble has arisen regarding the appearance of discoloured areas affecting both full-cream and standardised cheese, the ■ discolouration being apparently of three types, possibly due to threo different causes. It is noticeable that it is almost invariably coloured cheese that is affected, and somo companies have adopted the immediate remedy of making white cheese instead. CAUSES OF TROUBLE., ' "The scientists at the Dairy Kosearch Institute and those working in co-oper-ation with them, are closely studying this, and important new knowledge indicating the manner in which the most common type, that known as 'muddy discolouration,' is caused, has lately come to light, and all cheese-making companies have been advised regarding it and preventive measures recommended. Also experimental work in the direction" of elaborating these measures and making them more effective is in progress." The Minister said that altogether,the cheese position was not satisfactory. "It is necessary,'? he said, "that all that section of the dairy industry, which is interested in cheese manufacture give a close study to all tho facts bear : ing upon it, and take such. practicable remedial measures as are possible' in order to effect improvement.1 The Department is doing its best in its advisory and instructional capacity, and is anxious to do all it can. It has always Tjuen the accepted position that the industry, as a big business concern, made up of many responsible individual units, manages its own business affairs, 'the Department aiding and assisting it with^ > its administrative, functions and with its technical knowledge in all possible directions.' . ' " . • NO DICTATION. ' "It is satisfactory to realise that such co-operation has been well established, for a long period, and it is hoped that it can become, closer and still more .effective as time goes on. The Department has no desire to attempt to dictate to tho industry in its business affairs—that is not its function—but' I <lo feel that at the present time the industry needs to review closely the cheese position, and to adopt a_ constructive policy ajmed fit placing it upon a better ■ Vasis/ ' This/ -1 - understand, -is already contemplated, and no doubt it will be given full attention at the National Dairy .Association's conference next month. , , , "A very important matter connected •with cheese quality and cheese marketing is bound up in the manufacture of so-called standardised cheese. The attempt to place this class of cheese permanently and successfully on the .British market cannot be said to have worked out satisfactorily, not because much 'of it was not of good quality; .but mainly because, largely through' the' endeavour to obtain the maximum yield'to the, factory,, a relatively-smalll percentage of it was of 'such poor quality, that it ' created • a prejudice, which extended to the whole.'? . ■ -,■ '■, ■'• - .„. :v s OPINION AGAINST STANDABBiISED. Tho past history of the standardised 'cheese movement was briefly reviewed by the Minister. It was, lie said,,based on the apparently reasonable proposition that good marketable cheese could lio made from the high-testing milk in North Island- dairying districts if a percentage of fat were'extracted'and converted into' butter, still leaving the cheese with an ample fat content. ■ Experience, however, had shown that the ■great weight of opinion among buyers ■was opposed to this class of cheese. M'hat weight'of opinion had'to be regarded very serionslyi' ,"If is evident," the'1 Minister con- ' 'eluded, "that the use of the brand - 'Cheddar' will have'to cease before the new season ■ opens, and a position ! has been reached when a decision'has to-be made whether tho manufacture, of whole milk (full cream) cheese, and of this tmly, shall be reverted to. In view of -the latest cabled reports this, in. my opinion,- has become a matter of neces- - "As I 'have' already stated,'it' has ' lljoen the established policy of the Gov--I'eminent to regard tho dairy industry as a business concern fully able to manage its own'business affairs, the-De-partment aiding and assisting as much as possible, and the rapid expansion of Hie industry in recent years, combined •with the generally good quality of its . output, and the large monetary returns received from its sale, indicate great success in management. "It is necessary now to tackle all the troubles and to do all that is possiblo to overcome them, and I fully believe that this is tho. opinion of the iudustry, and if it is unable to.reach unanimity on what needs to.be done it will be for thfe Government to give a definite, lead."