Purdue University
Agricultural Extension Service
Lafayette, Indiana
Mimeo DH-80
March 1960
IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF INDIANA BUTTER BY LABORATORY EXAMINATION
F. J. Babel, V. W. Kadis and V. D. Rhodes
The Dairy Department of Purdue University, in cooperation with the Indiana Dairy Industry, has sponsored a program for improving the quality of milk and cream.
The program is based on a uniform grading system, which eliminates raw material of indesirable quality. The degree of progress in improvement of cream quality can be measured by certain analyses on the finished product. Tests for extraneous material,
water-insoluble acids and the flavor score of butter indicate to some extent the quality of raw material used in butter manufacture. These tests, as well as other-tests for determining the effectiveness of plant operations, were conducted on samples of butter sent in by plants who took part in the Indiana Cream Grading Program. Butter samples from a few plants in states which adjoin Indiana have been included. These plants purchase some cream produced in Indiana and take part in the Cream Grading Program.
The laboratory analyses presented in this report serve as a measure of effectiveness of the Cream Grading Program and the effort put forth to produce butter of high quality. The report indicates that most manufacturers of butter have made considerable effort to produce a good product. Some plants have made more progress than others, indicating differences in the quality of raw material purchased. The samples analyzed during 1959 and reported here give what is thought to be a representative sampling of butter manufactured in Indiana during 1959.
This report is based on the analysis of 116 samples of butter which were submitted in consumer-sized packages. The samples were analyzed over a twelve-month period with only slight fluctuation in the number of samples examined from month to month. The butter samples were analyzed for composition (butterfat, moisture, salt and curd), pH, yeasts and molds, water-insoluble fatty acids, extraneous matter and flavor.
The purpose of these analyses is to permit manufacturers to check their results with those of another laboratory and to adjust manufacturing conditions so as to produce a legal and uniform product with good keeping quality.
Purdue University, Agricultural Extension Service, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Products Marketing Service.
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Horae Economics State of Indiana, Purdue University and the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperating. L. E. Hoffman, Director, Lafayette, Indiana. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914.