Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Susan Duncan, Dairy and Sensory Evaluation

Bill Eigel,                Food Biochemistry

Joe Marcy:               Food Processing

Merle Pierson: Food Microbiology

 Sean O’Keefe: Food Chemistry

Susan Sumner:   Food Safety

Walter Hartman:    Dairy Plant Manager whartman@vt.edu

Kim Waterman:  Dairy Chemistry    kwater@vt.edu

UPDATES AT VIRGINIA TECH

Spring Banquet

The Food Science Club will be hosting the annual Spring Luncheon and Departmental Awards Banquet on Wednesday, April 27 th , 2005. The event will be held from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. at VA Tech's Alphin-Stuart Arena on Plantation Road . The invitation is open to anyone, and Departmental members would enjoy having industry personnel (especially the students and graduating seniors!), alumni and other ‘outside' individuals in attendance. If you are interested in coming, please RSVP by Monday, April 18 th to Jennifer Carr at phone, 540-231-6806; fax, 540-231-9293; email, jjc@vt.edu. Dress is casual and the cost is $16.

Spring Golf Tournament

The Virginia Dairy Technology Society (VDTS) will host a Spring Golf Outing on June 22, 2005 at Lake Monticello Country Club near Palmyra , VA. The tournament will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a shotgun start. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend! Profits will be used to support scholarships for students interested in food science programs at VA Tech.

For more information, contact Scott Valentine (800-483-1881, ext.26) or Grey Sherrill (800-334-0231).

Congratulations Graduating Seniors!

We would like to congratulate our outstanding FST undergraduates! Brooke Alston, from Westville , NJ will graduate with a B.S. in Food Science in May. Joseph Mize ( Columbus , NC ), Sommar Nettles ( Blacksburg , VA ), and Noelle Todd ( Fort Washington , MD ) will complete their Food Science B.S. in July. Amanda Miller (Apex, NC) and Meghan Rice ( Blacksburg , VA ) also will finish their undergraduate studies in May when they will receive their Bachelors of Science in Animal and Poultry Sciences with minors in Food Science and Technology. These students are actively pursuing employment and would like to gain entry level positions in the food industry. Please keep them in mind when employment opportunities become available. For contact information, speak with our undergraduate advisor, Dr. William Eigel at phone, 540-231-6877; email, weigel@vt.edu ; fax, 540-231-9293. We appreciate your support for our graduating FST seniors!

HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

Probiotic Butter

A farm business in Ireland 's County Mayo is the first in the world to produce a revolutionary probiotic butter for supermarket shelves. The Cuinneog Butter brand contains a blend of friendly bacteria, which works like other probiotic products to help the digestive and immune systems.

The Butler family in Balla began making butter and buttermilk products under the “Sheila's of Mayo” brand in 1989. However, they recently diversified into the Cuinneog Butter to capitalize on the emerging market of probiotic yogurts and drinks. Tom and Sheila Butler named the product after the Irish word for “churn” – cuinneog – and use steel churns (unlike the wooden ones of olden times). Tom said, “ Ireland has a long tradition in the art of buttermaking, since the Celts first introduced the skill in 200 – 150 BC. We started it 16 years ago because we have a small farm and wanted some extra income. Consumers will get an authentic and traditional flavor from the butter, as well as all the health benefits.”

Hundreds of liters of pasteurized cream are delivered to the Butler family farm each week by Connacht Gold Co-op. The cream that makes the butter goes through a four-day manufacturing process of heating, souring, cooling and churning before it is packaged.

Organic Milk is Higher in Vitamins and Antioxidants

Research findings were released in January at the Soil Association's annual conference, held in conjunction with the University of Newcastle 's Quality Low Impact Food (QLIF) Congress in Newcastle .

Jacob Holm, a senior biochemist at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences reported that organically raised cows produce milk that is on average 50% higher in Vitamin E, 75% higher in beta carotene (which our bodies convert to Vitamin A) and two to three times higher in the antioxidants ,lutein and zeaxanthine, compared to milk produced from cows raised traditionally. The research also found that organic milk contained higher levels of omega-3 essential fatty acids.

The enhanced nutritional benefits of organic milk are due to the more natural diets of organic cows. Such diets are derived from strict legal standards, subject to independent certification, and laid down in European law. The less intensive organic systems (compared to conventional) ensure a diet high in forage, fresh grass and clover. Stocking rates on organic farms are also lower, giving organic cows access to more fresh pasture. In contrast, conventional dairy farmers provide a cheaper diet which designed to be high in energy rich concentrates that increase milk yields. GM cattle feed, urea and solvent extracted feeds, and waste from food factories are also used conventionally, but are banned from organic diets.

Drinking a pint of organic milk a day provides 17.5% of the required intake of Vitamin E for women and 14% of that for men, and as much beta carotene as a portion of some vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts. Beta carotene is a powerful antioxidant which may help reduce the risk of cancer. It is thought that lutein and zeaxanthine help reduce the risk of developing cataracts, macular degeneration, and atherosclerosis.

Milk Calcium Most Reliable Source

Philadelphia – A study published in February's Nutrition Today found milk to be the most reliable source of calcium, superior to calcium-fortified soy and rice beverages and to many orange juice brands. The study revealed that much of the calcium settles to the bottom of fortified soy and rice beverage containers, even after vigorous shaking. Researchers said that simply adding calcium to beverages does not make them nutritional substitutes for milk.

Robert P. Heaney, of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University in Omaha , NE said, “The calcium that you'll find added to many soy beverages will have settled to the bottom of the container. Hand shaking wasn't enough; we found that really vigorous shaking, such as with a hardware store paint shaker, would have been needed to suspend the calcium in these beverages so you can put them in the glass and drink them.”

In this study, milk scored higher than all four soy or rice beverages, and eight of 10 orange juice products. Scores comparing calcium liquid suspension for two of the orange juice products were nearly the same as milk.