CHEESE QUALITY.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18157, 23 October 1930, Page 6

CHEESE QUALITY.

STANDARDISATION. CAUSE OF INFERIORITY. ’t, • MINISTERIAL STATEMENT. (Times Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. An important statement bearing on the question of cheese standardisation was made Jn the House of Representatives to-day by the Acting-Prime Minister, in reply to a question by the member for Stralford. Mr W. J. Poison asked if the Minister had read a report of a meeting of dairy factory directors, at which the standardisation of cheese had been condemned by Mr lorns, the chairman of the Control Board and endorsed by representatives of the dairy industry who were present. In view of the serious position of the industry, he asked what steps the Government proposed to take. The Acting-Prime Minister (the Hon. E, A. Ransom) said that the remarks relative to the quality of cheese attributed to Mr lorns in the press reports of the meeting of dairymen which was held at Hawera on October 18 appeared to be a reiteration of what he had previously stated on several occasions since his return to New Zealand from his recent visit to Britain, together with some comment on the criticism which his statements had provoked. It was understood that Sir lorns, as chairman of tbe Dairy Produce Board, had tabled a motion recommending the abolition of the manufacture of standardised cheese, and a committee of the board had been forced to confer with the officers of the Agriculture Department on Thursday of this week, when matters relative to the manufacture and export of standardised cheese would be discussed. In the meantime Mr lorns, at the meetings of dairymen he was holding in several dairying centres, was endeavouring to get support to his recommendation.

Decline In Quality. “It Is recognised,” said Mr Ransom, “ that there has been a falling off in the quality of New Zealand cheese during recent years, the vast majority of which was full cream cheese. It is also recognised that the average quality of standardised cheese has not be<y of so high a quality as was expected. On these points, the following extracts from a report prepared by Mr Singleton may be quoted;: “ 1 The manufacture of standardised cheese is subject to the conditions laid down in regulations gazetted in December, 1928. These provide that not less than 50 per cent.' of fat must be present in the dry matter of standardised cheese during the months of August to February, inclusive, and not less than 52 per cent, from March to July, inclusive. “ ‘ The instruction given throughout by the department is that quality must always be aimed at so that standardised cheese will be accepted as equal to whole milk cheese in quality, and thereby return as good a selling price.

“ 1 Last season, in some cases, quality was sacrificed for yield during the first two-thirds of the season; and a good deal of cheese was made which was not satisfactory.' In the latter part of the season quality improved. “ ‘ The attempt to obtain a high yield has been a most harmful feature. While a higher direct monetary return to the dairy company was the main object, the competition among factories for suppliers, and the tendency of suppliers to send their milk to factories making the highest payout is allied with this, and it forms a very bad feature of our present-day factory system.

Chief Cause of Trouble. “ ‘ The main cause of the inferior quality of a portion of our standardised cheese output may be said to be ’firstly, the addition of too much skim milk in order to obtain a high yield, and, secondly, the retention of too much water in the cheese for the purpose of endeavouring to remedy the too-flrm texture which would be produced by the high proportion of skim milk. Hence, the remedy lies largely in the hands of the dairy companies. “ ‘ This season the department’s instructors are stressing the necessity for, firstly, either using whoie milk alone or adding only a small percentage of skim milk during the first five or six months of the season; secondly, never adding more skim milk than will enable cheese to be made without any harshness in texture resulting, or any need for an abnormally high water content being retained to correct this fault of harshness in body; thirdly, using always vigorous and pure starters of clean flavour, and, fourthly, adopting the best proved good methods of manufacture. “‘ in conclusion it is satisfactory to be able to state that the whole dairy industry is evidently alive to the necessity for improvement in cheese quality, and is making a definite attempt to bring, this about. The grading returns for this season, so far as it has gone, show a distinct improvement in quality as compared with the corresponding period of last year.’

Inadvisable to Proceed.” “To this,” said Mr Ransom, “jt may be added that, although it is evident that some traders have a prejudice against standardised cheese there is evidence that some standardised cheese has proved of a quality acceptable to the trade. Furthermore, there is at present a diversity of opinion here amongst cheese producers regarding the manufacture and marketing of standardised cheese. Resolutions demanding the abolition of standardised cheese have been received from several meetings of dairymen in the South Island, including the South Island Dairy Association. On the other hand, a resolution protesting against any proposal to abolish the present regulation was passed at a representative meeting of cheese factory companies held at Hamilton on the 15th instant. It would therefore appear that until the results of the deliberations of the forthcoming meeting of the Dairy Board are known it is inadvisable to proceed further with the matter.”

ABOLITION OF REGULATIONS.

JERSEY BREEDERS’ PROTEST. PALMERSTON N. Wednesday. Standardisation of cheese was discussed at a meeting of the council of the New Zealand Jersey Breeders’ Society at Palmerston North yesterday, and a resolution was carried protesting against any proposal to abolish the regulations governing the manufacture of standardised cheese.

The opinion was expressed that improvement in the quality of the cheese manufactured could be effected by the enforcement of the existing regulations. It was further decided to write to the Dairy Produce Board protesting, against the action of the chairman, Mr W. A. lorns, in publicly opposing the continuance of the regulations providing for standardisation, while a resolution dealing with the subject was before the board, but had not yet been considered. The chairman, Mr A. E. Missen, of Han j'Lon, strongly deprecated Mr lorns’ action, which he attributed to ignorance of the true position.