AN INQUIRY CONCERNING THE SOURCE OF 

 GAS AND TAINT PRODUCING BACTERIA 

 IN CHEESE CURD. 



BY VERANUS A. MOORE AND ARCHIBALD R. WARD. 



A common trouble encountered by cheesemakers is the 

 presence of disagreeable taints which develop in the milk and 

 curd during the cheesemaking process. Although certain taints, 

 hereafter mentioned, may appear in the milk and curd unaccom- 

 panied by the formation of gas, the more common and troublesome 

 ones are constantl}^ associated with, and appear to be dependent 

 upon, a gaseous fermentation. Inquiry has shown that the 

 change in the flavor of the ripened cheese which follows the 

 presence of these bad odors in the milk and in the curd when it 

 is put to press diminishes very materially the market value of the 

 product. Notwithstanding that much of the skill of the cheese- 

 makei consists in his ability to recognize tainted milk when it comes 

 under his control, and to apply measures to prevent the formation 

 of gas, and check or prevent altogether the taints which subse- 

 quentlv arise and give the undesirable flavors, it frequently 

 happens that he is unable to do so. In such cases, the questions 

 which naturally arise, are : What is the cause and who is 

 responsible, the patron or the cheesemaker ? The reason for this 

 two-sided question seems to rest in an uncertainty concerning the 

 specific cause. The patrons find it easy to blame the cheesemaker, 

 and he in turn attributes the cause to agencies outside hisfactor3^ 



Several explanations have been offered for the occurrence of 

 "gassy" or pinhole curd and accompanying taints. Russell 

 and others have demonstrated experimentally the cause to be 

 the fermentation produced by certain bacteria which get into the 

 milk. Lloyd* has shown that among other things, " a diarrhoea 

 which tends to increase the introduction of fecal matter into milk. 



*Journal of the Bath and West and Southern Counties Society, England , 

 Vol. IV, 1894. 



