CREAM GRADING

Waikato Independent, Volume XLV, Issue 6233, 2 May 1949, Page 2

CREAM GRADING

SYSTEM DESCRIBED BY DAIRY INSTRUCTOR CENSUS METHOD USED . i The system of grading cream in New Zealand was described by the j dairy instructor of the Department of Agriculture, Christchurch (Mr A. E. Pain), when commenting on a letter sent to The Press by a Halswell correspondent signing himself "Disgusted." - | The correspondent, a supplier to a Canterbury factory and a former employee, said that as a result of the present system, suppliers were "robbed within the law." He said that almost every can of cream graded as first was mixed with finest, "yet the supplier receives Id per lb less for first grade, which is a.clear-cut profit for the factory." Grading is done by the taste of one person, and no grader was infallible, nor could his taste (as medical authorities said) be consistent, said the correspondent's letter. "Before those employed by a dairy company can grade cream they must have served a term in all spheres of the work, then learn grading under some person holding a license, and then apply to the director of the dairy division of the Department of Agriculture to be examined," Mr Pain said. The examination is very strict and of a practical nature. Any supplier may rest assured that cream has been graded by a competent grader. "The system of grading either milk or cream is very similar. The cream is graded on a census test —sight, smell, and taste. This is the only practical method, and has been in use for 20 years. If a better system were known it would have been adopted long ago. The grader's certificate is held at the pleasure of the director of the division and the holder must be a responsible person in every way. There are penalties in the regulations for persons falsifying statements in any way.

"From time to time surprise visits are made by inspectors" to dairy factories, and the standard of gradingis checked. We are in very close contact with the operations of every factory in New Zealand, and keep a constant check on consistency. A grader's record can be consulted for that purpose.

"It has been found that it is necessary to maintain, a very high quality for overseas export. That had had very pleasing results in-that our dairy produce ranks among the world's highest, and is satisfactory to the industry generally.

"Uncanny Sense of Smell"

"Any person who doubts the ability of a grader to grade consistently would be advised to*pay a visit to a dairy factory, where he will see how a grader has an uncanny sense of smell and taste.

• "This method of grading is applied to butter and cheese, in a very similar manner, which is very acceptable to the companies concerned. Reports received by inspectors in London indicate the consistency of this form of census grading of our butter and cheese before being exported from New Zealand. The buyers on the London market have indicated their complete confidence in our system here.

"Unless we had a definite method of grading, not only with our c«eam and milk, the quality of our butter would not be as high as it is to-day. "The practice of some factories mixifig the first grade cream with the finest is really a matter for the dairy companies to decide. It would not be practical in all cases to separate the first grade from the finest. "It is not generally appreciated that dairy companies spend considerable amounts of money in installing the best machinery available, and have adopted very strict methods of manufacturing, which enable them to make a reasonably high quality product. Nor is it appreciated that all first grade cream added to finest tends to reduce the average grade of butter produced. It also costs considerably more to treat first grade cream as compared with finest grade," Mr Pain added.