MAKING OF CHEESE.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18139, 2 October 1930, Page 7

MAKING OF CHEESE.

STANDARDISATION QUESTION.

SUGGESTED REMEDIES. (Times Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. A definition of the attitude of the Department of Agriculture concerning the manufacture of cheese, especially in view of the cabled news that English merchants demand full cream cheese, and the statement attributed to the chairman of the Dairy Control Board that no less than £1,000,000 was lost last year to New Zealand farmers owing to standardisation, was sought in the House of Representatives to-day by Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Independent—Egmont). Mr Wilkinson also asked what power the Department has to control the process of manufacture. The Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. J. A. Murdoch) stated in reply that at present the Department’s instructors are stressing the necessity in the manufacture of standardised cheese for —firstly, adding only a small petrcentage of skim-milk during the first five or six months of the season, if not throughout, and never adding more skim-milk than will enable. cheese to be made without any harshness in texture resulting, or any need for an abnormally high water content being retained to correct this fault of harshness in body; secondly, using always vigorous and pure starters of clean flavour; and thirdly, adopting the best proved methods of manufacture. , “The Department has no power,” said the Minister, “to order specific methods of manufacture to be adopted except in cases where the requirements of the regulations are not being complied with. But it now has power to cancel the registration of a dairy factory or the Certificate of a factory manager if, in the opinion of the director, standardised cheese is being intentionally made of inferior quality. This will ,be enforced if necessity arises. With regard to the questions whether the manufacture of standardised cheese should be discontinued altogether or whether, as has been suggested in some quarters, the percentage of skim-milk allowed to he added should be definitely limited, or, alternately, the minimum fat content increased' from 50 per cent, to 5.4 per cent in the earlier, and from 52 to 54 per cent, in the later part of the season, these points are under discussion. At its meeting last week the Dairy Control Board set up a committee from among its members to confer with the Director of the Dairy Division on the whole question of stadardised cheese, and it is understood that this discussion will take place during the . present month. Meanwhile, it may be mentioned that 60 factories which last season made standardised cheese are this season making whole milk cheese.” Stressing the importance of the question, M'r W. J. Poison (Independent —Stratford) suggested to the Minister that a very careful and thorough investigation be made by the Government. The necessity for investigations was made dear by the statement of the‘Chairman of a board, who had just returned from abroad, and had declared that standardisation must be abandoned. An enormous part of the produce exported from the Dominion was cheese, and the Dominion must jealously safeguard its reputation for the product.

Not the Only Trouble. Standardisation alone was not responsible for the troubles that had come about in the industry, said Mr Poison; the chief cause was that the present was the first year the experiment had bee ; n tried out. Many difficulties had still to be overcome. The Department itself had not been able to ascertain the origin of the slit and hole bacilli which prejudicially affeoted cheese, and that was a problem that should be solved, even if standardisation were abandoned. Three things- were necessary before the troubles could be overcome. Efficient milk grading at factories, differential payments, for different qualities, and the desire ,on the part of some factory managers to obtain a yield at the expense of quality must be curbed. In these matters the Department should act immediately. It was not possible for the board to award premiums for a high grade cheese; it had no finance, and legislation would have to be enacted before it could do anything in that direction. Mr. Poison said he was glad to note the Minister did not indicate it was his intention to abandon standardisation, but he thought the Department might give a definite lead to the industry.

Intensive Research Necessary. Mr J. A. Young (Reform —Hamilton) said it would appear from the reply given by the Minister that It was not the standardisation of butterfat in cheese that was at fault, hut the inexperience of the Dominion in regard to the manufacture and treatment of such produce on a large scale for export, and the fact that New Zealand had not discovered some uniform method of working produce so that it would reach the markets of the world in the same good condition that it left this country. , From grading figures it was known that at the time of leaving the Dominion the product was in a satisfactory condition, but that while a 'portion arrived Home in good condition, a good deal was not up to the quality desired. If a proportion of the cheese could arrive in good condition, there was no reason why the whole lot should not arrive in a similar condition, so that it appeared the matter required more intense research to ensure that before large quantities were sent overseas we had hit on the right method of manufacture. If that were done, and the correct method of manufacture and treatment ascertained, it should be made as widely known as possible, because if some factories could send standardised cheese Home measuring up to buyers’ requirements there was no reason why the rest should not do the same. Thera was reason '-‘to think, continued Mr Young, that the primary cause of the trouble was not after the che'ese left New Zealand, but was due to some defect in the process of manufacture which had not yet'been discovered, and the Department should therefore intensify its efforts :in co-operation with the dairy combines to remedy the difficulty.

OFFICIAL ATTITUDE