STANDARDISATION OF MILK.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1920, Page 7

STANDARDISATION OF MILK.

'AN JNTERESTING SUGGESTIONITS USE IN CHEESE-MAKLV& Directors of dairy factories recflgnirc that at the end of each season their supplier», compare the pay-out received bl")ieighboring factories, and aim by careful management t,o their particular factory jive ibe best result. The disadvantages that factoiie3 with i high average test labor under when manufacturing cheese were stressed by Mr. J. S. Connett, chairman of the Bell Block Dairy Company, at the annual meeting of the National Dairy Association, when he moved in accordance ■yit h ioti.ee of motion: "That in view oE the ii|h average teat of many of tho factories now manufacturing cheese ii, is iesirable 'to have a standard butter-fat ■ontent fixed, and that representations )e mstde to the Dairy Division asking hat this should be done." The resolution produced considerable liscussion. Mr. Connett said that he vas associated with a cheese factory .hat had a high average test, and in the natter of pay-out, when compared with ither factories, they were at a disad'antage. Oa investigation it would be oUnd that factories with a high test di:t lot pay out equal to factories with a bw test, mid it was very hard to exllain to suppliers why the director* iould not pay out an similar lines to ither companies. On further investigation it would be found that factories vith higli-testing milk had a lessqunn,ity of casein, for while he was quite lonvinced that the higher the butter-fat ;estj the higher the casein, yet the casein lid not rise in proportion to the fat, so ;hat it was not possible to make as nuoh cheese from high-testing milk in proportion to the fat, as from low-testing nilk. It seemed to him .that what was required therefore was to correct the •atio of the fat to the casein, and that me of the ways was to remove a portion of the fat. He'had given the mat;er considerable thought and that had led to his' bringing it before them last mnual meeting. Since then he had been very adversely criticised, but he Dointed out that very few had dug deeply into the subject, because the majority >f companies had a test that was satisfactory 1 for cheese-making. If they had such a high test in South Taranaki, he was convinced that the keen business men there would have dug deeply into the matter before this. It had been termed an amazing proposal, an effort at food-faking and an attempt to ruin the industry, but he" pointed out that it had never yet been suggested that a higher price should be given for cheese containing a higher fat content. Standardisation of the milk, he sail, had been opposed by the Dairy Division on the grounds that it would open the door to abuses, but he pointed out that evidently some managers were dealing frith the matter in their own way; as some of them beat "Van Slyght" by a gqod bit, and ho was an authority, the records in his book having been got under ideal conditions. I,t would be fa; better to legalise a proper method of dealing with the matter than having con ditions as they were at present.. One of his critics had stated that he had overlooked the fact that richer milk produced more cheese, therefore the supplier with the high test milk was getting more per hundred pounds of milk than the man with the lower test. That critic, however, neglected to show the money value of the milk per pound of butter-fat, milk with a 3.3 test yielded 10.1 lbs of cheese, the money value of which (at the market pri<£ of 10|d) was 32.9 d, milk with a 4.3 test yields 11.4 lb of cheese valued at 31-63 d, whilst ths higher test of 5 yielded 13.1 lbs of cheese and only gave 28.16 d per lb of butter-fat. These figures, he claimed, bore out his contention that the high-testing factories could not compete on the pay-out with those of a lower test. Further investigation tended to prove that the ratio of the casein did not rise in proportion to the butter-fat for the average yield under normal conditions wa9 as follows: — Test. lbs cheese. 3 2.77 3.25 2.73 3.50 2.70 4 2.g6 425 2.63 4.5 . 2.61 4.75 2.59 5 2.58 It wa9, he added, well worth the whi!< of factory directors to compare theli yields with the above table and see ii their managers were beating "Va: Slight." Breed was also a regulating factor i> the casein content. •The Holstein with an average test o: 3.26 butter-fat averaged 2.20 casein, thi ratio of butter-fat to casein being 10( to 67. The Ayrshire 3.76 butter-fat and 2.4< casein, the ratio being 100 to 65. The Shorthorn 428 butter-fat, 2.7! casein, the ratio being 100 to 65. The Jersey average test 5.78, caseii content 3.03, the ratio being 100 to 52. Factories whose suppliers went ii largely for the Jersey breed were there fore at a disadvantage, as the quantity of Jersey milk to give 65 of casein woul; give 125 of butter-fat, and it should bi quite possible to remove that extra 25 o butter-fat without removing any caseii and still have the correct ratio. Thii would nbt harm the industry in any way provided it could be safeguarded undc proper conditions. It had been proved by actual analysis that cheese containing a greater amoun' of butter-fat contained less than ih. recognised percentage of water, whic) was 37 per cent. Cheese containing 3; per cent of fat contained 37 per cent o water, whereas cheese that contained 31 per cent of fat only contained 34 per cen of water, showing that by working ii too much fat the cheese has not beei able to incorporate the recognise amount of moisture. The increasec amount of fat was sold at cheese price viz., IOJd per pound, whereas if extract ed from the milk beforehand it could b sold at butter price, and though tha would not bring high-testing factorie on a par with low-testing factories, i would help to make up a little of thi leeway. Continuing, Mr. Connett stressed thi point that the matter was an importan one. It had been stated that it woulc lead to adulteration to standardise mill products, but he pointed out that glaxi and condensed milk were manufacture! from, standardised milk, so why take ex eeption to standardised cheese? It ha< to be sent to the British .jnarket an. brought the same price whatever fat i contained. If it was possible to get higher price well and good. He fel that he was on right lines in relation ti the introduction of a standard and wa

convinced that something should be done. There wa9, he concluded, urgent need for research work being carried out in New Zealand under New Zealand conditions. There was such a department in America, and the magnitude of the inlustry certainly warranted research work being carried out here. QUESTIONS ASKED. Mr. Green (Rahotu) asked whether Mr. Connett considered that cliceso made from milk with a 4.2 test would contain more of that fat than cheese made from i.6 test? Mr. Connett held that it would. Mr. Green: "Well then, I think that ft ivould not, and you are wrong." Continuing, he said that his company iad had an analyst at work and had ound that the cheese made from the high>st testing milk contained less fat. The rat was driven out, so what was the difference between being driven out in the ivhey and skimmed out? Mr. Brecon (Pahiatua) said that his lompany had had a similar experienie vith opposite results. Mr. Connett said he would like to enow from the Department what was the lorrect ratio of fat, casein and moisture n the cheese, but there appeared to be 10 definite standard. Producers were now out to get the best returns from the industry. If the surplus fat could be •emoved from the milk without detrinent to the quality of the cheese, he conlidered that it should be. Mr. W. R. Wright (*Rahotu), in seconding,' sajd that the low-testing cow would come out on top every time- How aras it, he asked, that cheese which took jrizes at shows was made from skim nilk? Mr. Parsons (Rongokokoho) said that; i factor in support of the proposal was ;hat cheese at the commencement of the season, when the miik tested low, graded is high as it did later when the test was ligher. Mr. W. V< Harkness (Tariki) said ;hat the experience of his company was ;he same as Bell Bioclc. One fact that Mr. Connett overlooked was that in sepiratingyou did not take out butter-fat. mly, but a proportion of casein as well, ind the yield of cheese would probably je less. Mr. Marx (Mangatoki) said that the solution was to go in for a breed of ;ows suitable for cheese-making, or to manufacture butter from the high-test-ng milk. Mr, F. Ranford (Stratford) said tha,t it his company's four branches, the Stratford branch with the highest averige teat, came out with the highest yield through several months of the season Experiments carried out at Tariki showed that the percentage of butteriat in the whey at a high-testing factory svas lower than at a low-testing factory. Mr. Taylor (Cape Egmont) said that the men who sent high-testing milk to the factory received payment for a greater quantity of butter-fat each month, and so could not expect a highsr payment per pound at the end of the season. Mr. Brecon (Pahiatua) said that many suppliers took matters in their own hands and reduced the butter-fat content by adding water to the milk. Prom practical experience, he would fully bear aut what Mr. Connett had said. They 30uld make a fatter cheese out of hightesting milk, but not a more profitable one. Mr. Forsyth (Eltliam). while not being mtagonistic, said that Mr. Connett had not made it clear whether he wouid standardise the milk for cheese-making pftrposea or standardise the fat content of the cheese. Mr. Connett said the latter- He did not know whether the solution was to reduce the fat content of the milk. It would, he said, be interesting if some of the managers could tell of the methods adopted from their poitit of view. Friendly rivalry was all right to a degree, but when the resiflts of one factory were held up as an example for all others to follow, without knowing the absolute hypothesis from which a particular manager started, it was only encouraging managers to obtaiji results by fair means or foul. Managers of branches were always instructed when appointed that yield should be the first consideration. Mr. Wells (White Cliffs) supported Mr. Connett. Mr. Gibson (Rahotu) also supported He considered that the best way to overcome the difficulty would be to fix a basis of the percentage of fat required to produce the best cheese and pay on a sliding scale, upwards or downwards. A good deal also depended On the condition iii which the milk came to the factory. MR. SINGLETON SPEAKS. Mr. Singleton (Acting Commissioner ol the Dairy Division) congratulated Mr Connett on the way in which he had put forward his proposition. It was, he believed, correct that very few of the factories were making cheese from hightesting milk. The Dairy Division actec without fear or favor, and held that thi butter-fat content must be at least 5( per cent of the solids in cheese. Glaxc and condensed milk were special articles and it was unfair to bring them intc comparison. New Zealand's cheese busi ness had been built up on the fact that our cheese was made from whole milk A number of tests had been made by the dairying division showing that the av crage fat content of cheese, in proportion to the solid content, for each mont.l was as follows: September 53 per ceni October 53.18, November 51.73, Decembe: 52.59, January 52.58, February 54-65 March 53.65, April 54.14. It would thus be seen that there was a respectable, bu( not an extreme margin of safety. Mr. Marx (Mangatoki) moved that th< matter be postponed for the present and that Mr. Connett be thanked for his interesting address. Mr. F. Ranford (Stratford) seconded. MR. ELISON ADVISES CARE. Mr. Elison, representative of the National Dairy Association in London, saic that the matter was a vital one, and In urged them all to be careful. Cheest was sold on the market as half mill* cheese, and three-quarter milk cheese The Dutch made many grades of cheese some skim cheese, others ID to 20 pei cent of fat, and others with larger proportions. His experience regarding New Zealand cheese was that while we did not obtain any better pri« at first-hand for cheese containing ti greater per centage of fat than the average, they should be careful not have our cheese standardised and allow it to become known that it was not ful cream cheese, on which New Zeiilan had made its reputation. There nevei had been a suggestion that anything but. full cream cheese came from New Zealand. It took many years to build up a reputation which they could los; quickly. While the matter was of vita importance, they should enquire, fulh and exhaustively before committing themselves. MR. CTJDDIE'S VIEWS. The following address by Mr. Cuddii was read:— "The variation in the yield of elieeai

per lb of butter-fat as-shown 'in -thfe annual reports and balance-sheets of cooperative dairy companies, more particularly in the district of Taranaki, has recently given rise to much discussion for and against the standardisation of the butter-fat content of milk used for this purpose. The subject is one which is not well understood, even by many of those who have expressed an opinion in favor of such a change. The question presents altogether a different point of view to the milk suppliers at these factories, where the average test is higher than the average test at the factories iu general.

"No one who is acquainted with the weighing and testing of milk received at cheese factories will contend that this part of the work is not carried out with reasonable care and accuracy. At the same time, it is well known that all factory managers do not follow exacjtly the same procedure in regard to this phase of the business. For instance, some variation in the measurement and reading of the fat column undoubtedly take 3 place as between different factories; hence it is necessary to make some allowance for the varieties when comparing the yield of cheese per lb of fat as shown between different factories.

"If all milk were tested by an independent authority, and all cheese could be made with an equal moisture content, less would be heard of high and low yields of cheese per lb of butter-fat. But of course such an arrangement is impractical and therefore out of the question. It is admitted, however, that the average test of milk at certain factories where the high-testing breeds of cows predominate affects the yield of cheese per lb of fat by lowering it, as compared with the yield at factories where the lower-testing breeds are in greater proportion. "While that is perfectly true it does not follow that the lower-testing breeds produce the greater total quantity of cheese, for the opposite is frequently the case. For example, 1001b of milk, testing 3.25 per cent of fat, may be expected to yield B.BBlb of qlieese, whereas 1001b of milk, testing 4.25 per cent of fat, will produce 11.171b of cheese, if the moisture content of the cheese be regulated at 37 per cent in beth cases. Nevertheless the yield of cheese per lb of fat in the former is 2.731b, and that of the latter 2.63 lbs. The highest yield of cheese per lb of fat in the poor milk is accounted as compared with the ratio of casein to fat for by the higher ratio of casein to the richer milk, but the richer milk contains not only a greater amount of fa; but also a greater total amount of casein. Consequently the total quantity of cheese produced from the' richer milk is also greater"The ideal method would be to pay each supplier according to the yield of cheese from his milk in the same way as he would receive it if it had been handled in a separate vat, but under the factory system this is, of course, impossible, because the exact weight of cheese from a given supplier's milk cannot be ascertained when the milk from different farmers is mixed together in a vat. "The only alternative is to employ the best system known for the even distribution of factory profits after the deduction of the cost of manufacture. % The best method for this purpose at hand today is undoubtedly the test for butterfat. The evidence in its favor from all the leading authorities in the dairying world is indisputable. In fact, the fat. test is still Tecognised as the fairest and most equitable method, yet available for the-division of payments at cheese factories. This contention is supported by the results of a recent study of 15,000 factory payments made to the suppliers at £37 cheese factories in 22 countries in the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A., whan it was ascertained that -the method of payment by the babcock test was the most suitable in 95 per cent of all cases. "When once in additional test for casein is evolved, which wiir'give equally dependent results with that of the fat test, it will then be time enough to alter the present system of determining the value of milk for cheese-making. To attempt to rectify jnatters by reducing the fat content of the richer milk by skimming a portion of the fat before the inilk is run into the cheese vats is, in my opinion, fraught with danger to the New Zealand cheese industry, which has been built up in part of the 'basis of the words "full cream factory cheese" with which every crate of/our produce is marked prior to shipment. "In the first place, it would, be well nigh impossible to guard against 'over doing' the reduction of fat in the milk to a point where the reputation of our cheese would be placed in jeopardy. To give effect to such a principle it would be necessary to alter the existing minimum percentage of milk fat contained in the water free solids of whole milk, cheese as provided in the regulations under the "Sale of Foods and Drugs Act " and also to alter the regulations under the Dairp Industry Act, unless < the cheese made i from standardised, milk and the packages containing it were marked with an indication of the quality of fat removed. This would immediately advertise the fact that. New Zealand producers wore being permitted to reduce the fold value of their cheese for export,' when, r.o doubt, otlr competitors would mike the most of it to serve their own purpose

"In the second place any reduction in the fat content of the cheese would assuredly affect the market price of our cheese in general, and the financial loss to dairy companies as a whole, would likely far exceed any additional profit made by skimming the milk to a given standard and manufacturing the suppliers' fat into butter. "I lay no claim to any right of dictating to dairy farmers what they shall and what they shall not do with their produce, but in view of- the enormous value of the cheese industry and the high reputation which has already been won for good quality on the British and othe 1 * markets, I would strongly urge them not to sanction any change from the present method of manufacturing cheese from milk which contains the whole of the butter-fat."

Mr. W. R. Wright sjiid they had made up their reputation oil fools' milk ar.d fools' cheese. Mr. W. C. Green considered it would be preferable to standardise the moisture content.

Mr. Connett said that there was no argument about that. Everyone recognised 37 per. cent as being safe. Mr. W. C. Green said that two-thirds only contained 33 per cent, because owing to the excessive fat the cheese could not contain the moisture. Mr. Powdrell asked whether it would not be better to make butter from hightesting milk. Mr. Moss (Eketahuna) suggested that they might change the breed of the cows. He regretted to hear how lightly tha question of skimming milk was treated. It. appeared to be a question of getting the better of the other fellow.

Mr. J. R. Corrigan (Hawera) said that it appeared to be a case of one feillow pitting his brains to get hold of the. other fellv.v, After 8,11, what they gat

per acre was what counted. If men bred the best herd of cows let them stick

to it, The best cow would come on top in the matter of £ s. d. at the end of the year. MR. CONNETT'S REPLY. Mr, Connett, in reply, said he was satisfied from the discussion that this matter affected only a few in a practical way, and they were not sympathetic because it did not affect their pockety. When it did affect their pockets they would try to find a remedy. It was interesting to hear that Mr- Singleton looked on 50 per cent of butter-fat in the solid content of cheese as satisfactory If he would leave out the stipulation that it had to be made from whole milk it would meet the case. In reference to the variation of pay-outs, lie'pointed out that it could be brought about in various ways, and they should have a sound hypothesis to work on before making comparisons. He stressed the need of carrying out research work as early as possible. The amendment on being put was carried.