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84
them a portion of the fat had been removed. It was disclosed at the
hearing of the cases that three grades of dried milk are prepared—
"full cream," "half cream," and "separated." Dried milk appears to
be a preparation likely to be useful under various circumstances.
Butter and Margarine.—A case is mentioned below in which two
analysts found margarine in a sample submitted them, while another
two pronounced the part left with the vendor to be pure butter, and
the Somerset House Analyst came to the same conclusion on analysis
of the third portion. Similar conditions have been noticed before by
the City Analysts, and in some instances they have found that part of
a roll was pure butter and another part margarine, hence if such a roll
was cut up into three parts the analysis of each part would differ. It
is quite possible for an assistant who is weighing up parts or rolls of
butter to make a mistake and accidentally add a piece of margarine in
place of butter, unless precautions are taken to have no margarine near
at the time. It is not at all unusual to find lumps of butter and of
margarine on the same slab at one time, and the addition of a piece of
one to the other in the process of selling must be some times inevitable.
Dealers ought to be required to keep butter and margarine distinct.
Cheese.—Among the samples of cheese examined, certain samples
of "Dutch cheese" were found to be markedly deficient in fat (see
below). Up to recent years "Dutch cheese" contained a good
proportion of fat, but now the cheapest qualities are evidently made
from skimmed milk, and are therefore inferior. As this kind of cheese
is consumed by the poorer classes, the Council thought it might be
desirable to obtain the opinion of the Courts on the subject. As it was
not possible to prove that there was a standard for "Dutch cheese," the
Magistrate had no option but to dismiss the case. The Solicitors, in
reporting on it, pointed out that the possibility of getting a conviction
in cases where the Board of Agriculture have the power to make a
standard and do not do so is very great.
This opinion was communicated to the Board of Agriculture and
Fisheries, who replied stating that the Board have not laid down a
presumptive standard for fat, moisture, or other constituents of cheese,
as the different varieties of genuine cheese necessarily contain very
different amounts of fat, water and other ingredients, according to the
method of manufacture employed to produce certain distinct characteristics
in the finished article; that with regard to the question of
whether a standard could be fixed for each variety of cheese, the Board
apprehend that this course would be open to numerous scientific,
administrative, and practical objections, and that it may also be