Changing consumer trends have fueled the increasing interest of dairy product manufacturers in developing “non-thermal” dairy processing technologies. Specifically, customers want products that are safe, minimally processed, fresh-like, nutritious, and devoid of synthetic food additives, says Aubrey Mendonça, PhD, an associate professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at Iowa State University in Ames.

“Demand increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as consumers moved toward foods and beverages that help to strengthen immunity and improve overall health,” says Errol V. Raghubeer, PhD, senior vice president of microbiology and food technology at JBT Corporation’s Avure Technologies, which manufactures high pressure food processing equipment in Middletown, Ohio.

Although traditional “thermal” milk processing technologies such as heat pasteurization, ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatment, canning, and dehydration have been used for several decades to ensure microbial safety and extend dairy products’ shelf life, these processes can cause degradation of heat sensitive bioactive and nutritional components, and undesirable changes in the properties of treated dairy products that detract from “fresh-like” characteristics. “More health-conscious consumers prefer to consume dairy products made from raw milk,” Dr. Mendonça says.

Thermal technologies use heat treatments to achieve fluid milk safety by killing any microbial contaminants present; however, the temperatures used can also cause changes in protein structure and functionality as well as the activity of bioactive compounds, including vitamins and minerals in dairy products, says Maneesha S. Mohan, PhD, associate professor and endowed chair in dairy manufacturing in the dairy and food science department at South Dakota State University in Brookings. For example, whey proteins in milk start to denature above 150ºF and form covalent bonds with sugars and other proteins, which affects the flavor, color, bioactivity, and functionality, causing changes such as gelling, enzyme coagulation, and sedimentation of individual components and the overall product.

Some non-thermal technologies for dairy processing ­include high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), and ultraviolet (UV) light processing. “These technologies do not rely on high temperatures (i.e., temperatures greater than 50oC) to achieve the ultimate goal in food processing—which is to maintain food safety and quality during shelf life,” says Federico Harte, PhD, a professor of food science at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.

Many of the non-thermal technologies have either been commercialized in the past decade or are in the research phase prior to commercialization, Dr. Mohan says. Many are effective in inactivating microorganisms and pathogens in dairy and other food products.

Here’s a look at some of the newer, non-thermal technologies, how they work, and their advantages and disadvantages.

High-Pressure Processing

HPP involves placing packaged foods in a pressure vessel and filling it with water as the pressurizing fluid. High pressure, typically 600 MPa, is generated by a pair of intensifiers by pumping more water into the closed pressure vessel. Foods are held at the targeted pressure for a specified time before releasing pressure, says Alvin Lee, PhD, associate professor in the department of food science and nutrition at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and director of the Center for Processing Innovation at the Institute for Food Safety and Health in Bedford Park.

During compression, physiological and biochemical processes within microorganisms are affected, resulting in their inactivation, Dr. Raghubeer says. However, product nutrients and bioavailable compounds are largely unaffected because covalent bonds aren’t affected at these pressures. This results in fresh-tasting, nutrient-rich products.

Zifan Wan, PhD, an assistant professor in the School of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin in Platteville, concurs, and adds that HPP treatment leads to enhanced quality because the process doesn’t affect heat-sensitive compounds (e.g., vitamins, simple sugars, and volatile flavor compounds). Therefore, it doesn’t result in non-enzymatic browning and loss of flavor and nutrients.

Other Benefits of HPP

When using HPP, foods with different-sized packages can be pro­cessed in the same batch, says Yiming Feng, PhD, assistant professor of food science and nutrition at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Because foods are processed in packages, they don’t directly contact processing devices, which prevents secondary contamination and reduces sanitation costs. By having processes performed at room temperature, HPP reduces the energy consumption associated with heating and subsequent cooling.

The quality of dairy products made from HPP-treated milk can actually improve, Dr. Wan says. For example, one study published in 2007 in the International Dairy Journal showed that yogurt made from HPP-treated milk had a firmer gel structure and greater resistance to syneresis (doi: 10.1016/j.idairyj.2006.10.001). In addition, HPP-treated milk leads to enhanced lipolysis in cheese during ripening compared to cheese made from heat-pasteurized milk, in which lipase is mostly inactivated during heat treatment.

With enhanced lipolysis, a higher score of overall aroma for cheese made from HPP-treated milk was observed compared to cheese made from thermal pasteurized milk, because the breakdown of lipids into free fatty acids by lipase contributes to cheese’s unique flavor and smell, Dr. Wan says, citing an article published in 2001 in the International Dairy Journal (doi: 10.1016/S0958-6946(01)00044-9). HPP is not ideal for fluid milk production due to the insufficient inactivation of lipase, however, as lipolysis of milk fat contributes to rancid off-flavors.

Although the initial capital investment for HPP treatment is high, the technology has gained widespread acceptance commercially in the manufacturing of different thermally sensitive food products such as guacamole, sauces, jams, and jellies, Dr. Mohan says. The dairy industry has commercialized high pressure-treated fluid milk, colostrum, cheeses, and yogurt fruit smoothies.

Some Downsides of HPP

Some disadvantages and challenges in applying HPP to dairy products exist, Dr. Mendonça says. For example, bacterial endospores are extremely resistant to inactivation by high pressure. In fact, the highest-pressure levels typically used in commercial pressure treatment won’t completely destroy bacterial endospores unless repeated cycles of HPP are applied. In this scenario, HPP is time consuming and increases energy usage, making it economically unfeasible. Figure 1 shows the components of a typical HPP system.

Figure 1. Schematic showing components of a high-pressure processing system. Courtesy of Aubrey Trevor Mendonça.

Another downside is that appropriate packaging is required. As a batch product, there are limitations regarding how much product can be processed at a time. HPP is also not a one-size-fits-all “safe harbor” process. “This technology is young enough that each situation needs to be evaluated to ensure it’s effective against the potential hazards for that product,” says Tim Stubbs, senior VP of the Product Research and Food Safety Innovation Center for US Dairy in Rosemont, Ill. “It can be misapplied.

Pulsed Electric Fields

In PEF processing, high-voltage electrical pulses are applied to food products to destroy microorganisms. The treatment of food products occurs between two high electric field electrodes in a treatment chamber. The electrodes are connected by a non-conductive material, which prevents electrical current flow among electrodes, Dr. Mendonça explains. For effective microbial inactivation, the PEF process involves applying about 10 to 80 kilovolts for a very short time, usually microseconds to milliseconds. The components of a PEF processing system are shown in Figure 2.

The electrical pulses are transferred to food products and disrupt microbial cell membranes, destroying microorganisms. Various temperatures in sub-ambient, ambient, or higher than ambient ranges are used during PEF processing, Dr. Mendonça says. Treated food products are aseptically packaged and refrigerated during storage and distribution.

Figure 2. Schematic showing components of a PEF generating system. Courtesy of Aubrey Trevor Mendonça.

Advantages of PEF

Both PEF and conventional thermal treatments can enhance the microbial safety and shelf life of raw milk and other dairy products. Compared to thermal treatments, however, PEF can preserve heat-sensitive bioactive and nutritional components while reducing undesirable sensory changes in those products. “This aspect of PEF processing is important considering the rapidly growing interest in the health properties of bioactive functional food ingredients derived from dairy products,” Dr. Mendonça says.

The major advantage of using PEF to treat raw milk and dairy products is the potential for providing safe, high-quality finished products for consumers. “PEF processing is superior to conventional heat processing technologies because it reduces degradative changes in food quality and nutritional components and maintains sensory properties of foods while ensuring microbial safety,” Dr. Mendonça says. PEF processing improves energy usage efficiently and economically, resulting in greater cost savings compared to applying thermal treatments such as pasteurization and UHT.

Moreover, applying PEF in addition to mild heating can reduce microbial populations of dairy products at levels comparable to heat pasteurization but without significant changes in sensory and nutritional quality, Dr. Mendonça says. Therefore, PEF technology has the potential to replace conventional thermal processing of raw milk and other dairy products.

PEF has been proposed as an alternative to the non-thermal pasteurization of milk used in cheese making. “It can be used when aiming to keep enzymes active while removing native microbial populations,” Dr. Harte says. “However, for cheeses that rely on milk’s native microorganisms for appropriate flavor and texture profiles, PEF may be as detrimental as traditional thermal processing.”

Disadvantages of PEF

PEF is still in its early developmental stages. Currently, PEF processing costs more per unit volume/weight compared with other techniques (e.g., membrane filtration, UV radiation, and conventional heat processing). “More work is needed in order for PEF to lower its energy demand and scale up to the industrial level,” Dr. Feng says.

Another disadvantage of PEF processing, like HPP, is that it’s ineffective in destroying bacterial endospores, which are extremely resistant to many physical and chemical antimicrobial processes. “However, most of PEF’s limitations are technical and associated with occurrences of electrochemical reactions,” Dr. Mendonça says. These reactions can cause corrosion and fouling of electrodes, migration of electrode material into treated food products, electrolysis of water, and chemical changes in foods.

Ultraviolet Light Processing Techniques

UV light processing involves exposing food products to artificially produced UV radiation for set exposure times. Solid foods on a conveyor belt are exposed while passing under a UV light source, whereas liquid foods are passed through a UV reactor Dr. Mendonça says (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Schematic showing components of a UV treatment system for liquid foods. Courtesy of Aubrey Trevor Mendonça.

Sources of UV radiation include mercury vapor lamps, black light, fluorescent and incandescent light, and certain types of lasers. UV radiation can be categorized, depending on its wavelength, as UV-A (320–400 nm), UV-B (280–320 nm), and UV-C (200–280 nm).

The UV-C with shorter wavelengths is more energetic and can kill microorganisms. The genetic material of foodborne microorganisms is damaged when it absorbs short wavelengths, causing microorganisms to be unable to multiply due to irreparable damage, Dr. Mendonça says.

Pros and Cons

Food processing via UV radiation is a promising technology mainly because of its good commercialization potential, Dr. Mendonça says. Moreover, of the food products treated by innovative food processing ­t­echnologies, those treated by UV were described as high quality (94%), safe (92%), and having improved shelf life (91%), according to a 2015 study published in Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies (doi: 10.1016/j.ifset.2015.06.007).

From an economics perspective, applying this technology involves relatively low installation, maintenance, and operational costs. Additionally, it’s environmentally friendly because it requires relatively low energy usage for operation and no waste is generated, Dr. Mendonça says. Like other non-thermal processing technologies, UV radiation treatment can provide consumers with microbiologically safe, minimally processed food products with fresh-like characteristics.

Other benefits include retaining food texture and nutritional aspects without undesirable sensory and nutritional changes, no detrimental effects on the environment (no chemical residue or toxins), and no heat generation, Dr. Feng says.

Despite the attractiveness of UV light as a food processing technology, it has a few limitations. For one, it has intrinsically low penetration power. This reduces its antimicrobial effectiveness in foods with high concentrations of suspended solids and in opaque liquids such as milk, Dr. Mendonça says. Therefore, UV light application is restricted to treating clear liquids, surfaces of foods, and food packaging films such those used to wrap cheese. Workers should use caution by wearing personal protective equipment such as eye goggles, shields, and gloves, because prolonged exposure to UV light can damage their eyes and skin.

Adds Dr. Mohan, “While the microbial inactivation of UV light is encouraging, it has been associated with flavor changes in some cheeses and milks over their shelf life.” UV light processing also has lower efficiency in foods with suspended solids and opaque or cloudy liquids such as milk.

Other Novel Non-Thermal Technologies

More non-thermal technologies are in the pipeline. Non-thermal (cold) plasma, an ionized gas and the fourth state of matter, has been proven to eliminate pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms with minimal changes in nutritional, functional, and sensory quality of food products, Dr. Wan says. The antimicrobial capability of cold plasma mainly results from three major components: reactive gas molecules, charged particles, and UV radiation. Advantages include being economical, adaptable, and environmentally friendly.

Filtration is another newer technology used commonly in dairy processing, says James Gratzek, PhD, director of the Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center at the University of Georgia in Griffin. Filters eliminate bacteria by size exclusion. For example, filtration makes it possible to exclude bacterial spores but not certain smaller vegetative types. In this scenario, filtration can be used in combination with gentle pasteurization to deliver extremely high-quality, long-life skim milk. Filtration can be used for a variety of dairy food types, including higher protein milks and Greek yogurt.

Another method, nanobubble technology, can improve the functionality of different products, including protein concentrates and other high-viscosity products, Dr. Mohan says. These invisible nano-sized bubbles can consist of different gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, or air.

Due to their tiny size and charge, nanobubbles are stable in liquid systems up to a few days. In addition to possibly using the technology in different dairy processes for product manufacture, the technology may potentially be applied in effluent treatment plants in the dairy industry to reduce the suspended solids and organic matter load in the effluents discharged into water bodies, Dr. Mohan says.

There is a huge potential for using nanobubble technology in the dairy industry to improve the functionality of high protein products and sustainability of dairy processing by reducing effluent discharge loads, Dr. Mohan adds.

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While dairy has maintained a strong presence throughout the history of human diets, its nearly universal appeal in the modern world was not inevitable. Milk—and dairy products in general—have only maintained their consumer appeal through a constant cycle of innovation in line with market demands.

Even today, we are discussing a radically different dairy landscape than the one that existed 30 years ago. Dairy, a product that was once predominantly centered around Europe and North America, has seen massive growth in production and consumption across the world, especially in Latin America and Asia. It has also seen a transformation in how it is perceived, reinventing itself as a health food to target contemporary consumer concerns and evolving to encompass plant-based milk products that extend the market “beyond the cow.”

This traditionally dynamic marketplace has only been made livelier by the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating trends that were already underway and introducing new challenges to processors.

All of these changes and the “new normal” of the last two years during the pandemic have highlighted the need for novel and advanced testing and analysis technologies. Equipped with these, processors can adapt and seize new opportunities presented by this ever-evolving marketplace.

In this article, we will break down five key trends currently affecting the dairy industry and explore how, backed by robust testing technologies, dairy processors can best capitalize on these trends.

1. Plant-Based Products

A growing number of people, predominantly in Europe and North America, are identifying as vegan or attempting to reduce animal product consumption. This intensifying demand, paired with the novel formulation technologies that allow processors to better simulate the taste and feel of dairy products, has led to plant-based milk products commanding a growing market share.

As with any novel product, safety and quality assurance should be at the top of the agenda for any processor. While ensuring safety in all milk products is critical, it introduces some distinct challenges for plant-based offerings.

For example, plant-based milk products tend to hold more suspended particles than their animal counterparts, which can lead to processing difficulties in instrumentation originally designed for animal-based products. Plant qualities such as stickiness can lead to processing disruption and an increased need for maintenance. The suspended solids also cause issues in characterizing these products when using certain analytical techniques. The nature of these formulations means that the density of the products is not always clear, making it difficult to judge which products are fit to be used in specific instrumentation.

When analyzing a plant-based sample, we can apply what we know in traditional dairy products, where formulations higher than 30% solids require near-infrared instrumentation. Therefore, in solid-rich plant-based milk products, near-infrared is usually best suited. Alternatively, in those lower than 15% total solids, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) liquid analyzers can test samples in less than 30 seconds and with lower than 1% coefficient of variation (CV). Furthermore, diode array-based instrumentation, which can fit directly across a belt or pipeline, can provide rapid spectra of a product sample within six seconds. And for high-detail analysis, Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) can separate wavelengths in the near-infrared range within 30 seconds.

This is an area that is rapidly growing in response to market demands, with many instrument manufacturers beginning to roll out calibrations specific to plant-based milk products.

2. Dairy Industry Testing Is Traveling Upstream

Across the broader dairy industry, testing technologies are being applied further upstream in the supply chain by processors. With more stringent global food regulations, a growing clean-label product demand, and rising competition between brands, processors are requiring or intensifying early stage and raw ingredient testing in order to have more control of product quality.

The change to upstream testing can be most clearly seen in antibiotic residue testing. Veterinary drugs, such as antibiotics, are used on farms to prevent infections and promote health in cows. To prevent antibiotic residues from accumulating upstream and seeping into dairy supplies, processors rigorously test samples to ensure compliance.

Lateral flow strip tests, for example, can be used to test throughout the dairy creation process: from field and farm to contract and in-house processing labs. This easy-to-use, accurate technology can detect a broad range of antibiotics found in cow’s milk both at or below European Union and Codex Maximum Residue Limits. Better yet, they often require almost no sample preparation and produce results within minutes.

FTIR is also being applied more widely at milk collection points. Using solutions that ensure easy installation and minimal moving parts for easy transportation, these instruments can test for both composition and untargeted adulterants.

By routinely applying these technologies, processors can more easily adhere to regulations and continue to provide consumers with safe products. They can also more confidently assure safety in their products, as well as prevent the large-scale losses incurred when contaminated ingredients are mingled with healthy supplies. As testing continues to move upstream, easy-to-use and transportable technologies such as these will be important. 

3. Intuitive Instrumentation

The food processing industry generally sees high staff turnover. With broader labor shortages across several industries, dairy processors are also seeing more intense staff shortages. The specific and lengthy training requirements within the dairy processing industry in particular means that these shortages are leading to workflow breakdowns and reduced productivity. To keep profit margins stable, processors need to embrace technologies that can help remedy these issues.

Intuitive instruments and software that delivers real-time learning can reduce training times and keep workflows optimized, even as staffs change. Through clever design, manufacturers can integrate useful features like touch screens, one-button operation, and automation to lower barriers to use for operators and scientists alike. They can also ensure that maintenance on the equipment is simple to perform, thereby minimizing downtime. These collective modifications can add up to big benefits in workflow efficiency.

4. Responding to Regulation in the Dairy Industry

A hallmark of the modern food industry is tightening regulation. Across the world, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is driving higher standards. This, combined with greater customer expectations of ingredient transparency, means that dairy farmers, collectors, and processors need to understand their product compositions and safety profiles better than ever before. To do this, the dairy industry needs robust instrumentation that can help provide proper antibiotic, mycotoxin, and pathogen detection across a wide range of products.

By leveraging FTIR and FT-NIR systems, for example, processors can perform adulterant pass/fail screening in one minute or less; using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), processors can thoroughly test for antibiotics and veterinary drug residues in milk; and with inline NIR systems, they can understand their dairy powder compositions in less than 10 seconds with no sample prep.

For efficient mycotoxin testing in complex dairy matrices, processors can also use DON ELISA kits, in which the workflow is designed for users to “set it and forget it,” minimizing manual intervention and manual error. Solutions like these are also highly efficient, helping lab teams process up to 192 samples in fewer than 90 minutes.

Equipped with the latest instrumentation and assay kits, manufacturers can best inform customers as to what’s inside their products, as well as help keep them safe from any possible adulterants.

5. Data in Dairy

While testing data solutions are currently being rolled out across almost every industry, they remain generally underused in the dairy industry, offering processors an opportune chance to get ahead.

One way data solutions can help processors is through synchronization of their workflows to achieve improved efficiency. Some solutions can give access to visualizations and predictive analytics, helping to provide a more complete overview of workflows, ingredient quality, and product performance. Modern software tools can also pull out areas where workflows can be made more efficient, with the overall goal of leveraging data to help managers make more informed and faster decisions that can reduce time, cost, and waste demands while increasing product quality.

Data solutions in dairy are undoubtedly going to scale up in the future. As sensors become more sophisticated, two areas within data solutions in particular will see advancement. First, more user-specific visualizations and information will be available for processors, and second, tailored automation when leveraging data will become widespread.

Looking to the Future

As with many industries, the dairy industry is currently undergoing a period of change. Adapting to this is fundamental if the industry wants to maintain dairy’s near-global appeal as a popular, reliable, nutritional, and tasty product. From plant-based milk products to tightening regulations, there are no signs that the dynamic dairy industry is slowing down. Further, with milk becoming ever more global and differences in product demands continuing to diverge, it’s highly possible we will see an even more varied and distinct marketplace in the future.

Smart, robust testing and analysis technologies are key when trying to stay on top in the quickly changing landscape of dairy. With innovative testing and analysis solutions and best practices, processors can add new firepower to their value and quality and continue to create competitively exciting and customer-driven products to the global marketplace.

Beukema is senior manager of R&D for PerkinElmer, Inc., Food Segment. Reach him at wopke.beukema@perkinelmer.com.

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Last week, Texas experienced a rare winter storm that caused record-low temperatures, and the state’s infrastructure failed in many areas as millions went without power, heat, and water for days.

The extreme cold weather also adversely impacted agriculture and the food supply chain, as power and water outages resulted in many farms unable to power machinery and provide water needed to keep farms running smoothly and productively. Ranchers were faced with the challenge of keeping livestock warm, nourished, and alive.

Sid Miller, the state’s agriculture commissioner, noted that many farmers and ranchers across Texas experienced devastating effects from the cold weather on their livestock, feed, and agriculture products, and issued a red alert regarding the state’s agriculture.

“I’m getting calls from farmers and ranchers across the state reporting that the interruptions in electricity and natural gas are having a devastating effect on their operations,” he said in a statement.

Bryan Quoc Le, PhD, a food scientist and food industry consultant based in Washington state, notes that one issue that has emerged with the Texas storm is the loss of power for pasteurization equipment, with dairy processors pouring millions of dollars’ worth of milk down the drain, as they were unable to get their product pasteurized.

In fact, Commissioner Miller confirmed more than $8 million worth of milk was being poured down drains every day in the first few days of the outages, causing empty shelves at grocery stores and food supply chain problems “like we’ve never seen before, even with COVID-19,” he said.

“Cheese producers will also be affected as the supply of fresh milk drops off and prices soar for local and regional milk,” Dr. Le tells Food Quality & Safety. “The freeze has also impacted the citrus and vegetable producers in the Rio Grande Valley, damaging hundreds of thousands of tons of grapefruit, orange, cilantro, kale, and dill crops.”

The Texan agricultural sector was already hit hard by the pandemic, and these economic losses will only continue to escalate the plight of farmers and producers in the area. “Poultry and meat producers have had to suspend operations due to loss of power, which will have significant downstream effects on the availability of chicken, eggs, and meat products in the state,” Dr. Le says. “Texas ranchers and chicken farmers have had to scramble to keep their animals alive, with young calves and chicks freezing to death due to the lack of power. Watering ponds have frozen over, and farmers have had to work around the clock to break up ice and find alternative sources of drinking water.”

Transportation in the state has also been impacted due to the road conditions brought on by the freeze, resulting in fresh produce and food suppliers being unable to bring their products to grocery outlets and restaurants. As a result, perishable food had to be thrown away as it expired.

“We will be seeing a loss of Texan produce and animal products around the country, potentially kicking up the prices of citrus, vegetables, poultry, meat, cheese, and dairy for weeks to come and the loss of agricultural productivity in the region in the long term,” Dr. Le adds.

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Exporting U.S. dairy is about to get a little easier, thanks to a new memorandum of understanding between United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FDA designed to enhance collaboration between the agencies and improve efficiency in dairy exports, which bring in $6 billion annually to the U.S.

FDA provides regulatory oversight of programs that cover U.S. dairy facilities, ensuring the safety of milk and milk products, while USDA, through its dairy grading service, is the lead agency on issuing dairy sanitary certificates, coordinating interagency collaboration related to U.S. exports of milk and milk products, and negotiating with foreign countries on certifications to meet their importing requirements.

“The rising trend by trading partners requesting additional information and assurances from dairy exporters requires an exceptional level of coordination by government authorities to address and facilitate requests,” says Frank Yiannas, FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response.

Shawna Morris, vice president of trade policy for the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the National Milk Producers Federatio, sees the MOU as an improvement in terms of how different parts of the government will operate together to resolve trade barrier problems. “Our industry deals with a host of different non-tariff trade issues that crop up each year, but there’s always some sort of hiccup that requires government-to-government discussions to sort through and resolve,” she says.

Matt Herrick, senior vice president of executive and strategic communications for the International Dairy Foods Association, says that, thanks to this streamlined process and clear roles for the agencies involved, U.S. dairy exports should now be well positioned to take advantage of new and changing regulations in foreign markets.

“Demand for U.S. dairy around the world continues to grow unabated, and the U.S. certainly has the quality, safety, and affordability to compete with any other exporting nation, but now U.S. agencies are well-positioned to support that demand,” he adds. “By creating a framework for interagency collaboration and operational efficiency, the U.S. government is showing its commitment to ensuring U.S. dairy is able to respond effectively to new foreign requirements, like certificates, audits, or facility lists.”

This, in turn, should address any challenges faced by U.S. dairy exporters and keep them competitive in the global marketplace, helping to facilitate trade and expand exports of U.S. dairy products in the years to come.

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If Wisconsin were a country, it would rank fourth in the world in cheese production, after the rest of the U.S., Germany, and France. Ranking first in the U.S. for more than a century, Wisconsin produced 25.3% of the nation’s cheese during the first six months of 2020—1,652,500,000 pounds—according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (DFW).

DFW is a farmer-owned and farmer-directed nonprofit organization funded entirely by Wisconsin’s dairy farm families. It was created in 1983 as the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc., to increase the sale and consumption of Wisconsin milk and dairy products. The organization’s name was changed to DFW in 2018.

While Wisconsin makes more than 600 different varieties, types, and styles of cheese, mozzarella (33.1%) and cheddar (21.1%) accounted for 54.2% of the varieties produced in the state from January 2020 through June 2020, according to DFW and USDA.

U.S. Cheese Statistics

After Wisconsin, the leading cheese-producing states are California (18.9% of U.S. production, 1,234,300,000 pounds produced from January 2020 through June 2020), Idaho (7.7%, 501,600,000 pounds), New Mexico (7.4%, 485,700,000 pounds), New York (6.3%, 411,900,000 pounds), and Minnesota (5.6%, 369,000,000 pounds), according to USDA NASS. From January 2020 through June 2020, these six states produced 4,655,000,000 pounds of cheese, while total U.S. cheese production was 6,535,632 pounds, USDA NASS reports.

Cheese is the largest single category of specialty food in the U.S., according to Dairy Reporter. U.S. retail cheese sales totaled 2,344,900,000 pounds, valued at $11,726,200,000, from January 1, 2020 through July 12, 2020, according to custom Dairy Management, Inc. analysis of IRI data.

The U.S. exported 357,000 tons of cheese in 2019, ranking second in cheese exports after the European Union-28 (888,000 tons), as published by the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service.

Per capita consumption of natural cheese was 38.15 pounds in 2018, as per the USDA Economic Research Service.

COVID-19 Leadership

Most recently, Wisconsin’s cheese industry is focused on leadership relative to COVID-19, according to Adam Brock, CFS, DFW’s director of food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance. “DFW has collaborated with industry partners to develop and house information on our COVID-19 resource hub,” Brock says.

In April 2020, DFW published standard operating procedures (SOPs) titled COVID-19 Positive Worker and COVID-19 Positive Worker Return to Work. Brock co-wrote the SOPs with Marianne Smukowski, the dairy safety and quality coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Dairy Research (CDR), which is partially funded through DFW. Among other responsibilities, Smukowski oversees the CDR’s trademarked Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Program, a rigorous cheese quality initiative.

Smukowski offers advice for cheese producers to deal with the pandemic as diligently as possible. “Keep explanations simple and clear when instructing employees and anyone visiting your plant about what special procedures and behavior are required and expected,” she recommends. “Emphasize that face masks be worn according to the requirements and guidelines of your local health department. Facilitate proper physical distancing, and make sure you have systems in place to verify that distancing is maintained.”

Smukowski advises that producers conduct a risk assessment relative to communicable illnesses and determine appropriate follow-up steps, should positive cases be identified among employees. She also stresses the importance of having a pandemic communication strategy, both internal and external. “The pandemic is a fluid situation, so be ready for change at any time,” Smukowski says.

Cheese Industry Collaborations

Not surprisingly, Wisconsin, which named cheese its official state dairy product in 2017, boasts myriad initiatives and organizations devoted to promoting cheese quality and safety.

In June 2018, DFW launched a new Wisconsin cheese brand identity that includes the Proudly Wisconsin Cheese logo. “In order to carry the logo, cheese and dairy products must be made with milk purchased from Wisconsin dairy farmers,” Brock says. “This logo demonstrates that consumers are getting a high-quality product, made by licensed cheesemakers in the place that wins more national and international awards for cheese than any other state or country.”

Also established in 2018, the Dairy Food Safety Alliance is a collaboration of the CDR, the DFW, and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. “Through the Alliance, we focus on regulatory activities that are tied to food safety,” Brock says. “We host meetings on an annual basis around the state that provide opportunities for industry stakeholders to discuss food safety issues with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). Related to the Alliance, DFW participates with DATCP and other Wisconsin dairy industry partners as members of the state’s Dairy Rules Advisory Committee.”

Brock recently partnered with the American Cheese Society and other cheese industry stakeholders to develop a webinar focusing on food safety culture. The webinar debuted in September 2020. “The Wisconsin cheese industry is a leader in food safety and quality from farm to fork,” Brock says. “We have a unique collaborative spirit in Wisconsin, featuring an excellent working relationship with our industry partners and our regulatory agencies.”

Listeria Concerns

Listeria control is a major issue relative to cheese safety, according to Catherine Donnelly, PhD, a professor of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Vermont in Burlington. “It is well documented scientifically that aggressive environmental testing and monitoring are key to achieving this control,” she says. “Cheesemakers need to identify and eliminate niches of Listeria that may be constantly introduced into the cheesemaking environment. We know this is a problem for cheesemakers large and small.”

In 2010 and 2011, FDA conducted environmental surveillance of 154 cheese plants in 27 states, including both artisan and industrial producers. “Thirty-one percent had positive environmental findings, confirming the widespread presence of Listeria in processing plants,” Dr. Donnelly notes.

She contends that there are conflicting Listeria-related regulatory issues that create challenges for U.S. cheese makers. In her opinion, there is a need for regulatory policy that helps incentivize cheese makers with respect to testing dairy environments to facilitate Listeria control. “FDA’s revised 2017 draft Listeria guidance is a step in the right direction, but there is a further need for consideration of alternative approaches to FDA’s zero tolerance policy for low risk foods that do not support Listeria growth,” Dr. Donnelly says.

“FDA’s approach to inspections under the Food Safety and Modernization Act is viewed as punitive by many dairy processors, as positive environmental findings for Listeria in plants trigger recalls in some cases and injunctions in others,” Dr. Donnelly says. “FDA has considered both the pathogen L. monocytogenes as well as the non-pathogenic L. innocua adulterants, whose presence indicates that cheeses have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions.”

In contrast, Dr. Donnelly says, USDA’s policies encourage aggressive environmental testing to protect post-lethality-exposed ready-to-eat meats and poultry products. Additionally, USDA considers products adulterated only when the pathogenic L. monocytogenes (and not L. innocua) is found on a food contact surface or in a product. “Having consistent, science-based, and harmonized Listeria regulations between FDA and USDA would be extremely helpful for cheesemakers and would do much to advance food safety,” Dr. Donnelly suggests. Aside from that, globally harmonized cheese regulations that are science-based and focused on promoting safety are needed, she advises.

Research Needs

There is a need for research on new cheese cultures, Dr. Donnelly says. “Cheese is not, nor ever will be, a sterile food product, and we have so much to learn about the microbial communities that comprise cheeses,” she explains. “It would also be useful to know what health benefits might be associated with these microbial communities.”

“Previous research has revealed the complexities of the microbial consortia of cheese rinds, yet few, if any, of the more than 30 genera comprising these microbial communities have been fully characterized, and the role of some of these newly identified microbes is poorly understood,” Dr. Donnelly says. “We have so much to learn, particularly in the context of how these organisms interact with the human gut microbiome. From my perspective, there has never been a better time for cheese research than now.”

Raw Milk Cheese

To pasteurize or not to pasteurize: This debate is an ongoing focus of heated discussions about cheese and food safety, according to Moshe Rosenberg, DSc, professor and specialist of dairy science and engineering in the department of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis. “Some wonder why it is important to manufacture raw milk cheese,” Dr. Rosenberg says. “Maybe it’s not. Those who consume raw milk cheese want to indulge in specific flavor notes. It’s possible to use secondary and adjunct starter cultures for introducing specific flavor notes of raw milk cheese into pasteurized milk.”

Promising Technologies and Tools

Dr. Rosenberg highlights innovations he believes have potential to revolutionize U.S. cheesemaking. For starters, fully mechanized cheesemaking systems are commonly used; however, automated cheesemaking platforms have yet to be developed, he says. “Introducing automation requires developing a new generation of in-line probes and cheesemaking-specific artificial intelligence that can make decisions,” he adds. “Such systems will continuously assess and quantify the multitude of parameters that govern the transformation of milk into curd of desired properties and optimize the process ‘on the fly.’ Such systems will improve cheesemaking yield, minimize batch-to-batch variations, and will allow better controlling [of] the development of desired cheese quality attributes.”

Dr. Rosenberg is a proponent of establishing the concept of protected designated origin (PDO) for cheeses in the U.S. “In the case of cheeses, PDO defines the place and way that milk is produced, the way it is collected, as well as the place and manner in which cheese is made and aged,” he says. “It allows highlighting cheese terroir, the flavor of place.” Dr. Rosenberg explains that introducing and protecting PDO for U.S.-made cheeses requires developing the region-specific physico-chemical, microbiological, and sensorial “fingerprints” of cheese. That said, the true meaning of cheese terroir has not been scientifically addressed in the United States yet, he notes.

“Cheese is among the top-10 products that are adulterated all over the world,” Dr. Rosenberg says. “Establishing region-specific fingerprints of U.S. cheeses will facilitate their authentication, which will be especially useful for investigating situations where U.S.-made cheeses are implicated in food safety-related cases.”

People are ready to pay more for local cheese, Dr. Rosenberg says. “However, without authentication, local is just a ZIP code,” he emphasizes. “And, regarding cheese labeled as organic, research has indicated fraud in many cases. Identifying unique cheese properties, such as fatty acid composition, elemental composition, and stable isotopes profile can help protect against fraud.”

Leake, doing business as Food Safety Ink, is a food safety consultant, auditor, and award-winning freelance journalist based in Wilmington, N.C. Reach her at llleake@aol.com.

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Today’s dairy industry faces several challenges. Plant-based products, like almond and soy milk, are altering the traditional product lineup. The varieties of products are growing rapidly, with the explosion of choices in the yogurt, milk, and ice cream aisles. In addition, the dairy industry finds itself dealing with rapid shifts in consumer preferences requiring greater flexibility in processing and packaging. There are also increasing financial pressures stemming from production capacities, the overall farming economy, and labor shortages.

At the operations level, there are several concerns. Dairy processors need equipment that allow them to meet the highest standards of cleanliness. Pneumatics has a long history in the dairy industry, with applications that vary widely from cheese and butter making to yogurt and drink production. On the processing side, a single piece of dairy mixing and blending equipment could have 40 or more hygienic process valves that help control the flow of raw ingredients. In the packaging area, pneumatic devices like piston valves, manifolds, and cylinders are located on most equipment, providing actuation or motion control. In today’s challenging environment, pneumatics technology offers many critical advantages.

Cleanliness

One of the most important aspects in a dairy operation is cleanliness, especially in meeting regulatory standards. Pneumatics offers an advantage in helping to ensure equipment meets the hygienic standards of all the regulatory bodies, like 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. (3-A SSI) in the U.S. and EHEDG, the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group.

Started largely for dairy certification more than a century ago, 3-A SSI now applies to a variety of different food and beverage processes. The 3-A standard is rigorous, requiring that any seals touching the liquid not harbor any pathogen or bacteria. They must be highly cleanable and able to withstand high temperatures. There can be no grooves or crevices, with a maximum allowable surface roughness of just 0.8 micrometers.

Electrically actuated valves would require a specific design change or to be placed in an enclosure to meet washdown requirements, which adds cost and takes up valuable floorspace, so they are not commonly used in the process area of a food or dairy plant. Pneumatic equipment, on the other hand, is ideal for work in hygienic or rugged environments where frequent washdowns are required. In high-temperature, high-pressure washdown applications, some pneumatic directional control valves feature hygienic design, the ability to withstand aggressive detergents and chemicals, plus a high degree of modularity and flexibility for operational benefits. For dust-off or light washdown uses, for example in secondary packaging or handling applications, some companies like Emerson provide air cylinders that meet FDA, NSF, and ISO 6431, 15552, 21287 standards and feature a clean profile design to minimize potential pocket areas where dirt and contaminates can collect.

Modularity

Dairy processors need equipment that has a high level of modularity so they can react to rapidly changing consumer preferences. Pneumatics offers quick setup and easy changeout, giving dairy operations the ability to upgrade, fix, replace, or quickly change the parameters of their equipment.

For instance, one machine may be used to fill 6-, 12-, or 18-ounce containers with different products. This requires machine components that can adapt quickly to the different container sizes depending on the product being processed. This could be more relevant for packaging operations, where dairy processors can expect a lot of rapid cycling on the packaging line—for example, as single-serve containers change over to club-size containers.

Being able to adapt efficiently with minimal downtime helps increase overall equipment effectiveness. In some cases, by simply changing the machine’s automation program accordingly via the controller interface, the pneumatic functionality can readjust automatically based on the requirements for the new product run.

Reliability

Because pneumatics equipment avoids some of the complexity inherent in other power technologies, it’s known for dependable operation with less downtime. It’s also easy to fix, keeping maintenance costs low. It simply needs to have clean air. Built to work in a production environment, pneumatic devices also have a long-life expectancy, completing millions of cycles and withstanding high actuation rates.

In addition, pneumatics technology is well-positioned to utilize Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) capabilities. New IIoT edge devices can collect data from the pneumatic system to identify leaks, monitor energy usage and air consumption, and calculate the life expectancy or mission time of a pneumatic component. For example, by using appropriate data from an IIoT gateway device, maintenance technicians can predict that a shock absorber at the end of an actuator is deteriorating just by sensing an increase in its stroke speed, even if only by a few milliseconds. By knowing which equipment needs maintenance before it actually fails, plant engineers can avoid unplanned machine downtime and replace defective components with shorter and fewer machine stoppages.

Performance

Pneumatics equipment can handle high-speed production or high-speed motion sequences, using valves engineered for high actuation rates. Pneumatically operated pilot valves can be used throughout the facility to actuate a variety of critical on/off process valves and packaging equipment. They’re used extensively in packaging lines where weight and high cycling are critical. They perform in short to long strokes in a variety of operating conditions from high temperatures and high pressures for aggressive washdowns. Plus, they have high shock absorbance.

Cost Efficiency

Pneumatics technology generally has a lower initial cost than electronics on a component versus component basis, and is extremely cost-effective in operation, routinely saving operational expense because of its energy efficiency, reliability, and low maintenance costs. While electric devices may offer more control, that added capability may not be as relevant in food and dairy processing as it is in other industries. In addition, pneumatic technology is more washdown -friendly than electrical devices, which need a temperature-controlled environment to avoid overloaded circuits.

Compressed air is usually available throughout a dairy plant, so connecting more devices when needed for a new application usually results in little incremental cost. In fact, the more pneumatics connected to a compressor and the closer the total demand is to the capacity of the compressor, the more efficient pneumatics becomes. Conversely, a smaller number of pneumatic components using a smaller portion of a compressor’s capacity would be less efficient in operation. That’s why it’s best to evaluate costs on a case-by-case basis.

Worker Safety

Pneumatics can help address plant safety issues in several ways using a proven technology (compressed air). As a result, dairy producers hoping to comply with ISO and other regulatory standards have a wide range of traditional pneumatics products to choose from.

For example, Emerson is advancing an integrated, scalable zoned safety approach, allowing up to three safety zones to be isolated on a machine from a single pneumatic assembly. With zoned safety, the valve manifold can be configured to shut down pilot air and power only to the control equipment that will come in contact with the operator. The rest of the machine can remain in operation. Zoned safety helps design engineers satisfy Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and comply with ISO 13849-1 and ISO 13849-2. It reduces the number of safety system components by up to 35 percent, requires fewer connections, and saves valuable real estate within the machine and manifold.

Versatility

Compressed air is normally available throughout the typical dairy processing facility, so dairy processors can deploy pneumatics almost anywhere in the plant. And, at a deeper level, pneumatic devices prove their versatility by communicating across a wide range of industry protocols, like Ethernet-based protocols, Open System Interconnection (OSI), and IO-Link, and even Process Field Bus (PROFIBUS) and DeviceNet. As a result, it’s easier for dairy processors to use pneumatic devices that comply with national and international standards, anywhere in the world.

This high level of flexibility has allowed the dairy industry to deploy pneumatics in a widespread fashion. Equipment designers are learning to specify pneumatics quickly and easily, helping dairy machine OEMs meet end-user requirements for machines that are faster, more efficient, or consume less energy or air. Dairy processors are deploying pneumatics throughout their plants, reducing ramp up and training time required when they introduce new equipment. Dairy plant workers are developing a high level of familiarity, learning how to operate and maintain pneumatics equipment and controls.

Plant Engineering Advice for Implementing Pneumatics

There are several key best practices to follow when implementing pneumatics in a dairy operation:

• Mount the valves close to the cylinders to avoid long air lines and wasted energy.
• Mount the cylinders so they can be easily cleaned.
• Decentralize valve manifolds on larger production lines.
• Size pneumatic systems for optimal performance to avoid wasting energy on compressed air.
• Ensure the air pressure is constant to maintain optimal actuator cushioning by placing the regulators close to the actuators.
• Filter the compressed air according to the applications for which it is being used. If possible, place filters by each valve manifold.
• Lubrication for pneumatic components generally may not be needed, but if it is, be sure to use food-grade (type NSF H1) lubricants.

Pneumatics offers abundant advantages to dairy processors. Pneumatic devices can handle the rigors of a dairy’s rugged washdown environment. They’re easy to upgrade or change, giving dairy operations the flexibility to respond to changing consumer preferences. They can be used almost anywhere, tapping into compressed air that’s available throughout the plant. Finally, pneumatic technology can help dairy operations comply with regulations, protect workers and equipment from harm, and help maintain a high level of production and minimize downtime through predictive maintenance.

Patel is a product marketing manager at Emerson. Reach him at amit.patel@emerson.com.

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Got Milk may not have been a big marketing thing during the Bronze Age, but folks enjoyed moo juice back then, circa 3000 BCE. So says Christina Warinner, PhD, an assistant professor in the Harvard University Department of Anthropology.

In recent studies, Dr Warinner and several international collaborators report the first direct evidence of milk consumption — not drawings of people sporting white mustaches, but rather whey protein beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age. “Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species-specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record,” Dr. Warinner relates.

Fast forward to now, the big data age, and we’re still drinking milk. Per capita consumption of fluid milk in the U.S. in 2018 was 146 pounds, according to the USDA Economic Research Service’s Sept. 4, 2019 report. This represents a steady decline since 1975, when per capita consumption was 247 pounds.

In its Estimated Fluid Milk Products Sales Report dated Aug. 12, 2019, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) says 3.4 billion pounds of packaged fluid milk products were shipped by U.S. milk handlers in June 2019. This was 4.1 percent lower than a year earlier, AMS notes. Milk production in the United States during July 2019 totaled 18.3 billion pounds, up slightly from July 2018, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Aug. 19, 2019, Milk Production Report.

California leads the nation in number of milk cows with 1.728 million head for July 2019, 60,000 head less than July 2018, and 8,000 head less than June 2019, NASS reports. The Golden State also leads in milk production, boasting 3.378 million pounds in July 2019. Wisconsin ranks second in both number of milk cows, with 1.268 million head, and also in production, 2.606 million pounds, in July 2019, NASS says. New York comes in third in July 2019, with 627,000 milk cows (slightly ahead of Idaho), and fourth (just behind Idaho) in production, 1.288 million pounds, NASS relates.

Fluid Milk Innovation Contest

Doing its part to increase consumer interest in milk, on Aug. 1, 2019, the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) announced the launch of what it is touting as “one of the biggest dairy competitions of all time,” The Real California Milk Accelerator.

The Real California Milk Accelerator aims to promote innovation in the fluid milk category, according to John Talbot, CEO of the CMAB. “We are looking for ideas for new products that can be as varied as new flavor variations, nutrient or health improvements, marketing or packaging innovations, or that are environmentally conscious or sustainable,” Talbot says. “New or improved methods for producing, preparing, and packaging food and beverage products or ingredients and ensuring quality and safety are welcome, as are new and innovative beverage products or ingredients.”

Headquartered in Tracy, Calif., the CMAB, an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the Golden State’s dairy farm families. The CMAB executes advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice promotional programs on behalf of California dairy products that carry the Real California Milk (RCM) seal, throughout the U.S. and internationally, Talbot relates.

“The Real California Milk Accelerator competition combines two of California’s great natural resources: sustainable California milk and California entrepreneurship,” Talbot says. “The competition intends to inspire innovation and investment in fluid milk products, packaging and capacity within California.”

To that end, CMAB is seeking high-growth potential liquid milk ideas, with cow’s milk making up at least 50 percent of their formulas.

“Applicants need to commit to producing the product in California for a period of 12 months, should they win the competition, thus making an economic impact on the dairy farmers of California, as well as the state’s dairy processing community,” Talbot notes. He mentions that it’s OK if applicants use milk from another state in development, but the products the judges taste during the competition must contain only California milk. “Moreover, applicants must agree to have the final product carry the Real California Milk seal,” he says.

Talbot says as many as eight applicants will receive $25,000 worth of support each, to develop a protocept, while receiving elite mentorship from marketing, packaging, and distribution experts. “Select applicants will also receive an expense-paid business development trip to California, to tour dairy farms and processing facilities, and to meet with industry leaders that will help drive the success of their new ventures,” he adds. “The winner will receive up to $250,000 worth of support to get their new product to market.”

The Real California Milk Accelerator competition is open to any persons who are legal residents of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, are at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in their state of residence if greater than 18), and who offer a promising liquid cow’s milk concept.

Applications for the competition were due Aug. 31, 2019. The judging process culminates with the announcement of the winner on Nov. 8, 2019, in the San Francisco Bay area.

Beverage Innovation Center

A new Beverage Innovation Center is in the works in America’s Dairyland at the Madison, Wis.-based University of Wisconsin (UW) Center for Dairy Research (CDR), according to John Lucey, PhD, UW professor of Food Science and CDR director. “The Beverage Innovation Center will allow the CDR to work with companies and entrepreneurs to develop shelf stable milk-based beverages,” Dr. Lucey says. “We expect to be fully operational by June 2020.”

A $750,000 grant awarded in April 2019 by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, along with a $250,000 grant from the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, are funding the Beverage Innovation Center.

“We will have a 3,000-square-foot pilot plant outfitted with the specialized equipment needed to run small batches of extended shelf life and aseptic beverages,” Dr. Lucey relates. “We will also provide technical assistance to dairy producers and entrepreneurs that want to create new beverages using milk and milk-based ingredients. When the Beverage Innovation Center is up and running, we believe there will be no other public facility quite like it in the United States.”

Relative to packaging in the Beverage Innovation Center, Dr. Lucey says the initial goal is to have a small-scale, aseptic bottling system that has undergone some validation as being safe for human consumption. “We plan to set up a system that will be able to generate a couple hundred bottles from a single batch within about two hours,” he relates. “In the future, we hope to explore pouch packaging possibilities.”

Shelf-stable beverages that contain some dairy ingredients are an area of promising growth and innovation for the dairy industry, Dr. Lucey points out. “These products offer high-quality dairy proteins and can have other unique characteristics like being lactose free,” he says. “In addition, since these products are stable and have a long shelf life, they could potentially be exported.”

Exciting Quality and Safety Tools

Data analytics and molecular biology are two of the most exciting tools available for determining milk quality and safety today, according to Martin Wiedmann, PhD, Gellert family professor of food safety in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

These tools are especially important in light of what Dr. Wiedmann believes are the biggest quality and safety issues presently impacting fluid milk: post-pasteurization microbiological contamination and spore-forming spoilage organisms surviving pasteurization.

“Microbial spoilage issues occurring due to postprocessing contamination can largely be addressed with improved cleaning and sanitation of equipment that contacts milk after the pasteurization stage, particularly fillers and filler areas,” Dr. Wiedmann advises.

Gram-positive psychrotolerant endospore-forming bacteria (simply stated as spore formers) represent a more challenging problem in terms of microbial spoilage, Dr. Wiedmann says. “These organisms can survive many types of pasteurization heat treatments, and then they can germinate and grow during subsequent refrigerated storage,” he relates.

Dr. Wiedmann supervised research published in 2018 that showed refrigeration at 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit had a dramatic effect on lowering the mean concentration of psychrotolerant spore-formers in simulated half-gallons. “Specifically, our what-if simulations of lowering the refrigeration temperature from 42.8 degrees Fahrenheit to 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit indicated that only 9 percent of half-gallons of milk would be spoiled (greater than 20,000 cfu/mL) by 21 days when stored at to 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with the initial 66 percent of half-gallons spoiled by 21 days when stored at 42.8 degrees Fahrenheit,” he relates. “This translates to an extension of average shelf life (time to reach greater than 20,000 cfu/mL) by nine days by lowering the storage temperature from 42.8 degrees Fahrenheit to 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

“If a milk plant is well run and if there is no post-pasteurization contamination, the high temperature/short time (161 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds) shelf life can be expected to be 24 to 30 to 35 days if milk is refrigerated at less than 39 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit,” Dr. Wiedmann points out.

DNA fingerprinting through whole-genome sequencing is now helping scientists to better understand and decrease spoilage organisms in milk, Dr. Wiedmann says. That’s a good thing, he says, because pictures of spoiled food, including milk, are often posted on social media. “Pictures of off colors and spoilage issues can be damaging to the food industry,” he emphasizes, mentioning his related collaborative research published in 2019 that used whole-genome sequencing of nine Pseudomonas spp. bacteria isolates to determine the cause of blue and gray pigments in cheese and milk, respectively.

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