

Mississippi. — At the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station butter 

 samples were obtained monthly from three different creameries over a period 

 of 14 or 15 months. The samples were analyzed immediately after the butter 

 was made and again after storage for 15 and 30 days at 45° F. The results, 

 which indicate there was practically no change in either the carotene or the 

 vitamin A content during storage, were as follows: 



Micrograms per gram of butter 



Carotene Vitamin A 



Storage period: 



Fresh 5.9 5.88 



15 days 5.6 5.90 



30 days 5.7 5.83 



In addition to the above samples, other samples were taken from the same 

 source during certain months and stored for 5 months at 0° F., then analyzed. 

 They were again stored for 15 and 30 days more at 45° and the results of the 

 analyses were substantially the same as those above. 



VITAMIN A POTENCY OF BUTTER ON RETAIL MARKETS 



Butter produced under summer or winter 

 feeding conditions may appear on the retail 

 markets in the same month it was produced, 

 or it may not be sold for consumption for 

 some months after its production. Thus the 

 amount of vitamin A available to consumers 

 of butter each month throughout the year 

 varies with the relative amounts of the high-potency summer but- 

 ter and the lower potency winter butter marketed in the different 

 months. It would be difficult to determine how much summer or 

 winter butter is actually marketed or consumed each month, but 

 the following studies of the vitamin A potency of butter on retail 

 markets in four States indicate that the consumer may expect to 

 obtain butter most of the time which compares favorably in its 

 average vitamin A potency with the over-all average of all the 

 creamery butter produced in this country. 



New York (Cornell). — This station studied the vitamin A potency of the 

 butters sold on the retail markets in Syracuse (population 206,000), which is 

 served by 650 grocery stores, including the chain stores. Areas were selected 

 in the city to represent different levels of consumer income as well as differ- 

 ences in the size and type of stores. In each store visited, a sample was pur- 

 chased of each brand of butter for sale. Thus a number of samples of the same 

 brand were obtained from different stores. The complete results of this very 

 interesting survey will be published later by the Cornell workers. The results 

 that bear on the over-all average vitamin A potency of market butters are 

 shown below. These results, which are not corrected for loss in analysis, 

 compare very well with the same figures for the creamery butters produced 

 in such States as Minnesota, "Wisconsin, Iowa, and others. 





