560 HEAI/TH*UI,NESS OF BUTTER 



than producers lacking this knowledge, appreciation and equip- 

 ment. 



Creameries located in territories in which the cow popula- 

 tion is dense, the herds relatively large and the radius of cream 

 supply condensed, are able to receive cream with a lower acidity 

 than creameries that draw their supply from territories with a 

 sparse cow population, where the herds are small and far be- 

 tween and where dairying is merely a side line of general farm- 

 ing. In such territories the volume of cream is too small to 

 permit of shipments or deliveries sufficiently frequent to insure 

 its arrival in sweet condition. 



Aside from the production of acid in the cream, other fer- 

 mentations may and frequently do set in, which tend to lower 

 the quality of the cream and the flavor, keeping quality and 

 market value of the butter. The great majority of these fer- 

 mentations, while objectionable from the standpoint of the mar- 

 ket value of the butter, are so far as is known, entirely harmless 

 as related to the health of the consumer. In rare cases 

 isolated cans of cream may contain matter of putrefaction. The 

 shipment and acceptance of such cream is unlawful in most 

 states. Such cream is rejected or discarded by the creameries, 

 or confiscated by the health authorities. 



In the process of manufacture efforts are made to minimize 

 the effect of the conditions which tend to jeopardize the keeping 

 quality of the product. These efforts largely consist in 

 standardizing the acidity of the cream by the use of a neutral- 

 izer, in pasteurization to remove objectionable microorganisms, 

 in using a pure culture starter of lactic acid bacteria to intensi- 

 fy the desirable flavor, and in washing the butter with pure 

 water to eliminate much of the buttermilk. 



None of these steps in the process of manufacture are ob- 

 jectionable from the standpoint of the health of the consumer. 

 The neutralizer most commonly used is milk of lime which in 

 itself is a necessary food element of man and if it were taken 

 up by the butter in appreciable quantities could do no possible 

 harm. However, analyses have shown that butter made from 

 cream in which the acidity was standardized by the use of lime, 

 contained no appreciable increase in lime content over butter 

 made from cream not so treated. Pasteurization has no noticeable 



