GRADING MILK FOR CHEESE

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1933, Page 9

GRADING MILK FOR CHEESE

MICROSCOPIC TEST URGED

GREATER RECOGNITION WANTED.

PARLIAMENT TO BE PETITIONED.

MANY COMPANIES CIRCULARISED.

Greater recognition for the microscopic test for the grading of milk for cheesemaking, making it alternative to the curd test and not merely, supplementary, is to be sought by those dairy companies in the vicinity of Hawera that have graded by this method. A petition will be presented to Parliament. Copies of the petition have been widely circulated among dairy companies.

Some years ago a number of companies round Hawera adopted milk grading, with differential payments in some cases, and pioneered this new feature of the industry. The Hawera laboratory facilities for the grading of milk by the bacteria count were utilised, and when milk-grading became compulsory the companies sought permission to grade by the microscope. This was refused, which led to the circulation of the petition. The petition reads:— (1) That-on May 15, 1933, general regulations under the Dairy Industries Act, 1908, were made by Order-in-Council for the purpose of governing the manufacture and export of dairy produce. The prayer of the petitioners relates to section 41 thereof which reads as follows: “In the case of milk supplied to a cheese factory all grading shall be based jointly on (a) the curd test, and (b) either the reductase test or the microscopic test.”

(2) That dairy scientists are unanimously of opinion that certain approved scientific methods with specified standards are satisfactory in themselves for the purpose of milk grading, and should be so recognised in the regulations. (3) The petitioners and others have spent considerable sums of money for the purpose of erecting and equipping laboratories and for the purpose of grading milk by scientific methods. (4) The petitioners believe, having regard to their own experiences and the opinion of experts, that compulsory duplication of tests is unnecessary, and in localities where scientific tests are available the regulations should recognise such tests in themselves as adequate methods of grading milk. (5) The petitioners humbly submit that if this petition is not given effect to that confidence will be lost in Massey College and the- Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, high officials of which have from time to time publically advocated that scientific methods of milk grading are in themselves adequate for the purpose.

(6) The petitioners further submit that having regard to the large sums of money being spent on scientific research at the institutions established in New Zealand for that purpose it is time that more regard should be given in the framing of regulations to the opinion of the experts maintained by those institutions.

(7) The petitioners submit that at the present juncture the’New Zealand dairy industry will best be served by allowing freedom in the choice of any one of the three approved tests until time shall definitely establish which test is superior.

(8) The petitioners are supported in this their petition by the opinions expressed by representatives of the dairy industry at the annual conference of the National Dairy Association htha in 1932 and by a specific resolution passed after full discussion at the 1933 conference of the association.

The petitioners therefore pray:— (I.) That section 41 of the regulations be repealed and that in lieu thereof the following provision or provisions of a like nature should be substituted: “In the case of milk supplied to a cheese factory all grading shall be by any one of the following methods: (a) The direct microscopic test, (b) the reductase or methylene-blue test, (c) the curd test.” (II.) That section 39 be extended to include the following provision or provisions of a like nature: (1) Where the direct microscopic test is employed (a) the grade of “finest” shall be applied only to milk which is of clean flavour and appearance and contains not more than 50,000 organisms per cubic centimetre as determined by the direct microscopic count; (b) the grade of first shall be applied to milk which is of clean flavour and appearance, and contains more than 50,000 but less than 1,000,000 organisms per cubic centimetre; (c) the grade of second shall be applied to all other milks,” (2) Where the methylene blue (reductase) test is employed the minimum times of decolorisation for the respective grade shall be for finest grade 5J hours, and for first grade three hours.