FOOD VALUE OF BUTTER

Southland Times, Issue 23610, 10 September 1938, Page 19

FOOD VALUE OF BUTTER

NOT IMPAIRED BY PASTEURIZATION

COMPARISON OF FACTORY AND DAIRY PRODUCT

Asked if there was any foundation for the belief in some quarters that pasteurization impairs the food value of butter, Mr R. L. Manners, engineer or the National Dairy Association, Wellington, was quite definite in saying that this was not so.

Cream for butter is pasteurized instantly by what is known as the “flash process at a very high temperature — 203.6 degrees Fahrenheit, varying according to the district—and is cooled at a very low temperature, generally about 8 degrees.

While this possibly accounts for the loss of taste in factory butter as compared with the dairy product, the former will retain its freshness for a much greater period and is equal in food value to dairy butter, though it is admitted that the “spreadability” of the factory product does not compare favourably.

“It is surprising that no modern method has yet been discovered in butter making,” said Mr Manners. “The ancient Egyptians, so it is said, placed a bag of cream on the back of their camels to agitate it into butter. The present-day churn is merely an elaboration of this process. “A member of the State Agriculture Department in Australia, however, is at present experimenting with a machine which will manufacture butter from cream in a few seconds. The main drawback is that it is essential that fresh cream only is used.”