326 DEFECTS FOUND IN BUTTER 



factories, such as unsanitary pumps and leaky cream vats or 

 coils. Unsanitary pumps have been the means of transmitting 

 man}- undesirable fla^•ors to both milk and cream. 



Ayers states that he has investigated the causes of undesirable 

 flavors in milk at milk plants, and has found the trouble to be flue 

 in some cases to unsanitary pumps. An instance of this kind 

 came up in one of the best creameries in Iowa, a whole-milk 

 plant that had been noted for the excellent quality of the butter 

 it was producing. A cut of several cents a pound in the price of 

 the butter had been made, due to a very disagreeable flavor that 

 it had shown. The maker, who was above the average in intel- 

 ligence, was unable to locate the cause of the peculiar flavor that 

 was developing in his cream and butter. He asked the State 

 Dairy Commissioner to send one of his best men to help them 

 locate their trouble. The state inspector examined the creamery 

 and found everything in apparenth' a good condition. He 

 weighed the milk himself, and found the quality of the milk 

 received was exceptionally good. As soon as the pump was 

 started and the milk was pumped up to the heating tank and 

 from there passed into the separator, the first cream passing 

 from the separator showed the peculiar flavor that was found 

 in the butter. From this it was concluded that the trouble was 

 in the pump. The pump was taken apart, heated in the furnace 

 for some time and thoroughly cleansed, then put together again. 

 When the pump and separator were started again, the cream was 

 fine. The maker's trouble was that he had not been in the 

 habit of taking the pump apart for cleaning but had merely 

 pumped water through it and steamed it. The hot steam evi- 

 dently condensed, covering up undesirable organisms and pro- 

 tecting them from the heat of the steam. From this will be 

 seen the importance of sanitary pipes and the use of a pump 

 that can be thoroughly cleansed every time it is used, for either 

 cream or milk. 



Leaky vats and coils in creameries are sometimes the cause 

 of bad flavors. A leaky vat will produce in cream a pungent, 

 disagreeable flavor that is somewhat different from the flavor 

 produced by almost anything else, and this will be transmitted 



