WATER IN BUTTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19020, 16 November 1923, Page 7

WATER IN BUTTER.

AVOIDANCE OF EXCESSIVE PERCENTAGE. THE CONTINENTAL SCHEME. GTbou Octb Own Cnvn-vavoxistit?.} HAWERA, November 15. At an important conference held by the Taranaki branch of the New Zealand Dairy Factory Managers' Association, Mr W. E. Gwillam (Assistant Director, Dairy Division] was present and spoke of the' excessive water content in butter. Referring to Mr W. M. Singleton's article on the subject in the Agricultural Journal for October, he said that the Continental countries exporting butter to Great Britain had tried to protect their trade;•! The butter exported from Denmark to Britain containing more than the legal amount of water was confiscated. If it contained between per ceni. to 16 per cent., the factory or owner, if a member of the Butter Control Institute, was penalised by a nominal fin.e; and if the sample contained more than 16 per cent., the position waa met by a fine and by re-workmg. In the event of the butter still failing to comply "with the regulations the registered mark or brand was withdrawn, and the factory manager was suspended from membership and prevented from using the brands. Mr Gwillam also said that several dairy companies this season were co-operating with the Dairy Division in trying out t'wo practical tests for findincr the casein content of milk received for cheese-making. Should those tests be practical, they were confident that they would be able to place in the hands of the cheesemakers a test as reliable as that for fat in milk. "With knowledge of the percentage of casein in milk, the cheesemaker would have on hand some Taluable data that would help to throw more light on the yield of cheese per lb of butter-fat.