A BUTTER MARKET IN DANGER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9740, 5 March 1914, Page 4

A BUTTER MARKET IN DANGER.

The news from America that two shipments of New Zealand butter have been condemned because the presence of boric acid had been detected will give dairy companies food for thought. There has always been a good deal of controversy regarding the effect of adding this preservative, but no finality has been reached. The law in New Zealand, however, permits of the-use of not more than 38 grains per pound, and a certain percentage is allowed for butter manufactured for the English market. On the other hand, the American law will not permit the importation of butter containing any preservative other than salt. Seattle, the big Pacific wast port, is at present probably the largest consumer of Australian and New Zealand produce in the States, and it was here that one consignment of 1000 boxes and another of 400 were condemned. It would be a great pity if the American market were jeojardised by frequently condemnations of big shipments of produce which do not conform to the laws of the country, apart altogether from the loss that will be sustained by shippers, and for this reason factories will need to be scrupulously careful in their manufacture for this market. It would seem that the boric acidi was present in such quantity a/? could be deteeted only by a chemical test, but the American analysts who test it at the port of entry do not worry about the quantity. All they look for is evidence of the presence of the banned preservative and that is sufficient to condemn the whole shipment. It is apparently very easy for traces of the acid to get into the butter intended lor the American market, either through its use by suppliers or through its being present in the machinery employed previously for making butter for other markets. The danger will always be present under such circumstances and the risk of sending butter likely to be condemned by over-vigilant inspectors may be too great for dairy companies, who wall abandon the market in favour of safer, if less profitable, spheres of enterprise. Perhaps if the Government took the matter up an arrangement might be arrived at whereby the United States could be induced to rdax the stringency of this rule somewhat.