INFERIOR BUTTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24042, 13 August 1941, Page 10

INFERIOR BUTTER

SALE AS FIRST GRADE RETAILERS' COMPLAINTS STATE CONTROL BLAMED [by TELEGRAPH —I'll ESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Tuesday

"The public to-day is paying lor first grade butter but not getting it," according to a statement made by a Wellington retail grocer and confirmed by Mr. W. Meggie, of Dominion Distributors, Limited. "I have complaints every day about tainted butter," said one grocer. Before the Government- took control of marketing each factory packed its own butter and took the responsibility for it, said a grocer. If the quality was not satisfactory the retailor knew where to complain, and if the fault was not rectified he could buy from another source. To-day all butter for the Wellington market was packed by the Internal Marketing Division. All of it, was ostensibly finest quality ami was charged lor accordingly. Grocer's Suspicions

Although the butter bore the wraps of various factories, the speaker suspected this was not the correct indication of origin. He drew attention to a wrap bearing the name of a wellknown dairy company followed by the words: "Packed for the proprietors of the brand from pure creamery butter by the Internal Marketing Division, Wellington." It was not stated expressly that the butter was the product of the company mentioned. "Butter received from the Internal Marketing Division is not good enough," said Mr. Heggie. When a complaint was made to Government officials they said that the butter was graded finest quality and taint developed later. He understood that the Agriculture Department was investigating this aspect of the problem. It was possible that trouble might ho caused by taint in storage chambers or by too great a use of fertiliser in the soil. Whatever the cause, however, the division, although it knew the butter was not right, continued to send it out without making any explanatory statement to the public. All Mediocre Butter Mr. Heggie said his view was that the, butter should he packed by individual factories as before the Government took control. That would ensure competition tor quality and would tend to keep the standard up. The division probably tried to place in a factory s wrap butter of the appropriate quality, but that was not the same. "We did get bad butter in the past,, but it was sold as inferior grade," said Mr. Heggie. "To-dav I would say it is all mediocre and it is sold as finest."

After a meeting the Wellington Master Grocers' Association issued the following official statement to-night: "All members at the meeting were concerned about the quality of butter. They were receiving a number of cases in which butter had to be returned because of its inferior quality. The association intends to write the Minister of Marketing, the Hon. .T. G. Barclay, asking him to investigate the position."