Indonesians using N.Z. milk process

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33963, 2 October 1975, Page 11

Indonesians using N.Z. milk process

A three-man team from New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries which is in Java to investigate the decline of the Indonesian dairy’ industry has devised a simple packagepasteurising technique for milk.

The concept may prove, to be the most important agricultural aid con-' tribution New Zealand will make in the region in the 19705. Mr B. R. Hedley, a farm i adviser from Rotorua, leads the team which comprises Mr G. R. Cleland, an economist from Wellington, and Mr J. E. Briggs, a dairy products officer from Christchurch. Like many major develop- j ments, the idea is simple.* Milk is packed tn plastic! hags, sealed and pasteurised to a tune and temperature l ratio Thus, the traditional' sequence of pasteurising and’ packaging . is reversed. The basic, low-cost tech-i nique satisfies hygiene re-1 quirements. can quickly be( brought into use, and requires little technical skill. TO USE LABOUR Designed to use manpower rather than machinery, the process has been developed so that all necessary components are manufactured locally, and there is no reliance on constant help or supervision from a foreign country. The method will provide! an immediate, and larger, re-i turn to the farmer, create i jobs, and produce a higher! quality product for the consumer at a lower cost. In Indonesia the capital cost of equipment needed to package-pasteurise 100 to 500 litres oer day would be SNZB2O. Running costs, including labour, are 2c a litre. Emphasis is placed on employment. and production governs staff numbers. An! output of 500 litres per day requires a large collection and marketing team as well! as the process workers. Practical work in West Java confirmed the potential of the process, which reduces pasteurisation to a simple “boil-in-the-bag” operation. The New Zealanders observed an unsatisfied, and grow ing, demand for milk in Java. Output provides one-fifth of dairv products requirements. The bulk of this milk comes from small herds housed in the major cities. AT DISADVANTAGE The city producer has a ready market, whereas the rural producer is at a considerable disadvantage, and, it is in the rural milk sys-l tern that Java’s problems lie.

The return to the rural farmer of 4c to 7c per litre, compared to 25c per litre for the city producer, has discouraged milk production in the countryside. Instead, rural farmers have bred cows for beef production, using available milk for calf rearing. Discussions between Joel Briggs, and the group’s liaison officer, a fellow New Zealander, Alan Kilgour, on the transportation of rural milk to the cities, and the associated hygiene problems,; i led to the “boiLin-the-bag” concept. : Under present conditions, milk is transported to market on a shoulder pole, tied Ito the roof of a bus, or I strapped to the side of a bicycle. Seldom is a covered vehicle used. Up to eight hours may I elapse before the milk is sold, I and on one occasion milk was measured at 46 degrees Centigrade in a city depot. WATERED DOWN The investigators also I found that middlemen vendors commonly watered down the product, or in areas I where Government inspectors, i were operating, adulteratedi ' it with higher-specific-gravity i liquids, such as soya-bean ori ,coconut milk. Through the combined I effects of unsanitary dilution,, ! lengthy exposure, and contamination, the consumer receives a poor-quality product. Containers are generally’ unhygienic galvanised cans, plastic jars and old bottles, cleaned by a mixture of bar soap, and gravel, on the end of a length of frayed bamboo. II The package-pasteurising technique eliminates these problems. Farmers are encouraged to deliver their milk directly to the treatment centre by daily payments based on quality standards. From the station, sachets are i transported, if necessary : chilled, to retail points. i A site for a processing (centre in West Java has been ;chosen. > The centre’s operation is simple. Raw milk transported from outlying small farms is strained to remove all debris and foreign material. A muslin cloth can be used for this. Milk is then ladled (as a means of measure) into plas'tic bags, which are clamp- | sealed. Sealed sachets are (immersed in water at more ithan 75 degrees centigrade for !no more than five minutes land not less than two.

Sachets must receive heat evenly, and circulation of the bags has to be maintained. This can be done by using a mesh-tray, similar to a chip basket, which is constantly agitated. Precise timings are not always possible. However, if treated for less than two minutes milk may not be completely pasteurised. Given more than five minutes the milk may turn brown, and the flavour can be affected. COOLING Quick cooling is important and on removal from the heating vat sachets are immersed in cool water to reduce the temperature to 18 to 25 degrees centigrade within five minutes. Sachets are then removed to a third vat for temporary storage. Investigation shows that ithe installation of a refrigeration unit may be necessarv if unused milk is to be stored, and tests have shown that it will keep for eleven days under refrigeration beifore deteriorating.