FISHINESS IN BUTTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 21

FISHINESS IN BUTTER.

Perhaps no complaint in regard to butter :s: s so muc*T enshrouded in mystery as that of fishinsss. During my experience (writes R. Crowe in the Farmers' Gazette) several creameries noted* for making butter which turnsd out .fishy in flavour were enabled to locate and remove the cause and effect a cure. The means adopted were to make a thorough inspection of the dairy, the milk and cream supply, utensils in use, etc., and bring about a drastic change for the better in the standard of cleanliness throughout. That the trouble was so easily overcome serves to indicate that the defect is due to filfch organisms of some kind, and hence a short study of the subject may bo opportune. Fishiness in butter is akin to herring brine — that is to say, the butter pronounced fishy has a peculiar flavour resembling herring brine. This flavour is said to be produced by trimethylamine, which is described by Webster as " a colourless, volatile, alkaline liquid, obtained from herring brine-, with a characteristic ticrripg-like odour."

One opiraion indicates that jrusty milk or cream cans may have a good deal to do •with fishiness'. Under any circumstances it is patent that % only rusty cans, but even utensils from % <vhich the- tin coating is worn, have -a wry deleterious effect on the butter. The general impression is that milk cans and buckets arc made of tin. They are not made of tin, but of tinned steel or ftron. The' tin coating :s: s very thin, and in time" wears through to the metal, leaving .it -ba*e. .Iron or steel, although it may be polished bright and kept clean, is bad for milk or cream. A chemical reaction occurs between the lactic acid and ihe^ metal, which produces a flavour not ■unlike fishiness. But when the vessel has not only got the tin worn off, but has the fitirface honeycombed with rust, the danger of contamination is considerably enhanced. ■The moral is .to employ only properly-tinned buckets and cans, and to see that they are ihdroughly cleansed bofore use. It has bees observed that nsiuno=3 rarely

occurs- in unsalted butter, and when it is kept at sufficiently low temperature the complaint of fishiness is seldom mentioned. The material from which the organisms produce fishiness is the buttermilk or curd — in other words, it is the product of the putrefactive changes occurring in proteid substances.

There is really no need to wait till the source of complaint is positively ascertained in each instance -where it occurs; nor is there any nece.ssity to postpone action till research has been made and -a definite pronouncement given on the subject. It should be sufficient to know that this serious complaint is due to the action of Slth organisms, and it can usually be obviated by the following precautions: — Carefxtllj cleansing cows before milking, and discontinuing the use of milk from newly-calved cows or cows with inflamed udders. Attention should be given to water couirscs, which are liable to get dirty and boggy : pumping the water into troughs is the best and cheapest remedy. Butter-makers should stop the use of rusty utensils or vessels of which the tin is worn. ' ' Only clean water should be used for buttermaking and the cleansing and rinsing of all "dairy utensils. The buttsr should b3 so manipulated as to leave as little buttermilk as possible in the finished prcdi'<s by attention 'to temperatures and _ methods of rinsing and! washing. Everything in connection with the- preparation or treatment. of dairy products should be kept scrupulously clean, and if this is done the term fishiness, as applied to butter, will disappear.