CANADIAN PREMIUM

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 8 June 1931, Page 9

CANADIAN PREMIUM

ADDRESS BY DR. J. A. RUDDICK FAULTS OF N.2h CHEESE WARNING TO CANADIAN DAIRYMEN. The following: extract from an ad-i dress by Dr. a. A. kucldick, Canadian Dairy commissioner, delivered at the annual convention of the. Dairymen’s Association. of J'.n,stem Ontario, on .January 8, DAI, lias its ‘ interest for New Zealand dairymen:

“Now, there is, of course, some reason for tins premium. it'is part-, Jy tiue to tlie smaller quantity 01 Canadian cheese on tlie market, but it is mostly a tribute to the superiority of its quality and tlie fact that it possesses more of tlie real cheddar quality than the New Zealand does, ‘i hat oeing so, it also meets the demand arising front tlie diminishing quantity of prime English. and fecotusli cheddars, which have always topped the market. “Two years ago, when I made a somewhat similar comparison, my New Zealand friends were rather indignant and 1 received some rather vigorous protests. During the interval, however, the facts of the situation have been brought home to them so forcibly that they are now using much stronger; language in discussing the matter than L ever thought of using. Tlie whole story is too long for this address, but I siialt attempt to sketch the situation very 'briefly, my only reason for doing so being because 1 think it contains some lessons for Canadian cheese makers. CAUSE OF DEFECTS.

“The defects complained oi in New Zealand cheese are attributed to a number of factors. In the first place the. milking machine is extensively used in New Zealand. It would, in fact have been quite impossible to luavty deydljoped the industry to its present proportions, under the conditions prevailing in that country, without the use of the machine. Now, it is well recognised that machine drawn milk id usually more seriously, contaminated than hand-drawn milk. The machine may exclude lactic ucid organisms, but this gives the putrefactive germs from the imperfectly sterilised 1 tuibes and other parts ah the better chance to develop l and cause trouble. To overcome the bad flavours arising from this type of milk the practice Iwas; introduced of pasteurising the milk for cheesemaking and we are informed that over 80 per cent .oi the milk is now so-treated. “It is claimed that cheese from pasteurised milk has more or Jess neutral flavour and such flavour ajs it does acquire seems to be slower in developing. <• • -• TOO MUCH 1 MOISTURE.

“New Zealand cheese makers, urged on by their directors, have overreached themselves too often by increasing yield at the expense of quality. In other words, they' have, left too much moisture in. their cheese. Then, because the percentage of fat in New Zealand milk is high, on account of the large proportion of Jersey cow.s, someone conceived the idea thatj it would be permissible to remove some of this fat. The suggestion was adopted about two years ago and a regulation was passed providing for licensing of factories to make what is. called ‘Standardised’ .cheese —a cheest made from milk from which some fat lias 'been removed, but which must eontain not less than 50 per cent, of fat in the dry matter. _ There seems t< be a very 7 serious objection to ‘standardised’ cheese on the London market and it is no sugested that its manufacture should be no longer permitted. “There are other factors in tlie case which need not be mentioned here.

“ L lrare not juatle these, comparison: to belittle New Zealand cheese. Mj object is to warn Canadian cheese makers from falling into the sann errors. AA 7 e must stick to our policy of producing the close, firm bodied, clean flavoured cheese of the t-rm cheddar type, which is the finest cheese in the world.” ,