QUALITY OF CHEESE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 304, 5 September 1929, Page 6

QUALITY OF CHEESE.

IMPROVEMENT DESIRABLE. Views of Mr. S. Ferguson. In the course of a review of the past season at the annual meeting of suppliers of the Norfolk Dairy Company on Monday, the chairman of directors, Mr. S. Ferguson;, touched on factors contributing to the quality of cheese and methods of improving the grade on the Home market.

Mr. Ferguson said that the quality of New Zealand cheese generally was not as good as it might be. A lot of factories had been concentrating on getting a big yield per pound of fat so as to make a big payout, and were neglecting the quality, which was tending to lower prices. A premium for finest quality was gradually being established, so that the factory that concentrated on quality would eventually come out on top. The principal complaints were that the cheese lacked maturity in the early make, and had a tendency to crack and fall to pieces when cut.

The Control Board had arranged for early make to be stored and carried on ships at a higher temperature, which would improve the maturity on arrival, the chairman continued. The Massey College, on trying to find out the cause of openness was experimenting in the making of cheese ty treating the milk to different processes of pasteurising and manufacture, but had so far not been able to find a solution for the trouble. The general opinion was that the defects were accentuated by the milk being contaminated on the farms ty certain bacteria that developed through milking machines :.nd cans not being sufficiently sterilised. The development of this bacteria could be largely checked by thoroughly cooling the milk on the farms.