FAULTS IN CHEESE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 258, 1 November 1932, Page 8

FAULTS IN CHEESE

COMPLAINTS FROM ENGLAND | I SALE OF PR.ODUCT AFFECTED | PI.KA FOR GREATER CARL AUCKLAND, Oct. 31. Serious complaint is voiced regarding the quality of New Zealand cheese on the Home, market, and it is stated on reliable authority that a point has been reached where sections of the trade have become definitely antagonised. It is stated that for some years the quality of New Zealand cheese has steadily deteriorated. Until 1928, the principal cause of complaint was open texture, which had become progressively more troublesome. In 1929, other faults made their appearance and in 1931 practically all sections of the distributing trade in the United Kingdom made strong representations to the Dairy Board, the High Commissioner and to importers, regarding the inconvenience and monetary loss involved in handling New Zealand cheese. It was pointed out that consumers in increasing numbers were returning their purchases and asking for cheese of different origin. According to views expressed, during the first five months of the. 1931-32 season quality generally was distinctly better and distributors commented upon the improvement. There was an almost complete absence of trouble due to discolouration, internal mould growth and cracked rinds. The early months’ make were more mature than usual and were therefore Toady for immediate cutting for retail distribution. An Earlier Improvement The conditions were maintained until the December-made cheese appeared on the Home market in April, when it is stated that all the old faults reappeared. As the season advanced complaints became more numerous and the trouble spread through a considerable number of factories, almost all of which, are in the North Island. “From one end of the United Kingdom to the other wholesalers and retailers have reported trouble, involving loss of custom and loss of money,” stated one authority. “Some of our biggest distributors have complained bitterly of being ‘let down’ by the New Zealand factories.” It is claimed that the faults lie in discolouration, internal mould growth, cracked rinds, weak body, accumulation of moisture beneath the wax coating and open texture. Local Cheese Variations It. is stated that a point has been reached when an increasing number of branch managers of the chain distributors are requesting their buying departments to stop sending them New Zealand cheese. Only the comparative shortage of Canadian cheese causes the demand for New Zealand to continue. The position, it is stated, is well known to the Government graders in London. Leading representatives of the distributing trade express the view that cheese is hurried in the manufacture from the raw product to the finished article, with the result that the faults complained of make their appearance when the cheese is marketed. It is stated that cheese cannot be manufactured with the same regulation used in making lead-pencils and it required attention at odd times. The variation in the quality of cheese placed on the local market is also commented upon. It is claimed that roost of the cheese for local consumption is insufficiently matured and that those who have a taste for cheese can rarely obtain a steady and satisfactory supply.