The Effect of Lecithin in Dairy Products upon Butter Fat Determinations

Abstract

The loss of butter fat in dairy manufacturing processes, such as churning, was considered to be relatively unimportant when tests for the fat content were made by the regular Babcock test. But since the introduction of the butyl alcohol modification of the Babcock test, and the wider use of ether extraction methods, the fat losses appear to be considerably greater than was formerly supposed. Tested by the older method, the fat content of buttermilk showed tests of about 0.2 per cent. Tests recently made on a large number of samples from various creameries have shown that the average fat content of the buttermilk from Iowa creameries is 0.7 per cent. The question now arises, which method, if either, gives the true percentage of fat?