NEW ZEALAND CHEESE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 125, 29 May 1930, Page 19

NEW ZEALAND CHEESE

QUALITY IN QUESTION CRITICISM OF METHODS (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) . > STRATFORD, 28th May. 1 The executive o£ the Taranaki branch of the Friesian Association. to-day fully discussed questions of standardisation and the system of payment for milk. A circular letter from Messrs. Lovel! and Christmas, of London, in reply to an inquiry regarding 'standardised cheese, asking if the quality of Xew Zealand cheese was keeping up to the standard of last season, was brought .before the meeting. The firm replied, that in its opinion the standard had deteriorated. The texture was too open, tho cheese developed cracks after cutting, there was a tendency to discoloraation, and in some cases a strong rank flavour. ;■". : Regarding the system of payment xor milk, the chairman, Mr. C.-A. Marchant, said the present system had grown up with the industry, but the fact that no progress was made was directly due to the present Director of tho Dairy Division, who did not move with the times. It was quite.possible to make good standardised choose, but some managers had made a point of incorporating all the moisture possible. One result was that at Home some cheese was found exuding pure whey. Good standardised cheese could be" made if factories set out to make good firm cheese. FACTORY METHODS. .: The present grading system, he continued, had outlived its , usefulness. . The grading should be at the other end, but he accepted the authorities' assurance-that there were great difficulties in the way. The making of good cheese was impossible while some factories put in 42 per cent, of moisture. To-day there were malpractices in making cheese which-ought not to be permitted. The movement for a changed system of payment for milk, the speaker added, was not for the benefit of any particular breed, but a-matter of justice for the whole industry. At the conference to be held shortly at Hamilton the Director of the Dairy Division would hear more about standardisation than he ever had before. The operations of some factories had done damage which it would take many years to rectify. The industry should set to work to.put its house in order. The trouble arose from factory directors demanding the highest possible yield instead of - the highest possible quality. It was decided to refer the Lovell and Christmas circular to the Director of the Dairy Division.: '