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

18 th Annual VA Dairy Quality Control Conference

Thanks to all who attended and/or participated in the Quality Control Conference at Tech's new Alphin-Stuart Livestock Teaching Arena on September 14 th . Lots of useful information was shared and many valuable ideas were presented.

Attendance was somewhat lower this year due to scheduling conflicts with other events. We plan to schedule next year's conference very soon, so that all of you can mark your calendars early. We welcome any suggestions for improvement. Would this meeting be more convenient if it was held on a different day of the week or at a different time of year? Are there any particular topics that you would like to have addressed? Please email ( kwater@vt.edu ) or call (540-231-6325) with ideas so that we can make this educational event more available and more applicable for every facet of the industry.

The 1 st annual silent auction generated almost $350 towards Food Science & Technology student scholarships. We greatly appreciate all the auction item donations and wish to thank everyone for the generous contributions. Special thanks to all the individuals who kept the bidding lively!

State Fair of Virginia

The State Fair will be held from September 23 rd through October 3 rd at the Richmond Raceway Complex. If you plan to attend, drop by the Virginia Ag World building. In the company of other VA organizations that will showcase their products, the Virginia State Dairymen's Association will be selling cups of chocolate and regular milk for 25¢. Bottles of milk and “Got Milk” t-shirts and posters can also be purchased. The Association sponsors the Milk Booth every year for the purpose of promoting the dairy industry in Virginia .

  HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

New FDA Guidance on PMO

The Milk Safety Branch of the FDA has distributed an August 26 question/answer document that covers a wide range of plant operation issues under the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO). State agencies and regulators are expected to use this new info during inspections of Grade “A” dairy plants, so it may be beneficial if plant operators read over them. The complete list of questions and answers will be available on the FDA Web Site at http://www.cfscan.gov at a later date. Below is a sample of some of the issues covered:

Are vitamins A and D the only nutrients required to be added back to reduced fat milk products, or are other vitamins (such as C, E and K) required to be added back? Vitamins A and D are the only nutrients required to be added back to reduced fat, skim or non-fat milk products by the PMO. Vitamin C is not a fat soluble vitamin and will not be lost in the separation process. Vitamins E and K are fat soluble, but are present in such small and variable amounts that they do not meet the 2% daily reference value (DRV) specified within 21 CFR 101.3 of the PMO.

May dimethylpolysiloxane (an anti-foaming agent) be added to skim milk (not pasteurized) that is to be used for production of dry curd cottage cheese and/or to the creaming mixture for cottage cheese? Yes. The standard of identity for dry curd cottage cheese does not list “anti- or de-foaming agents” or “dimethylpolysiloxane” as permitted ingredients; however, dimethylpolysiloxane may be added to skim milk to be pasteurized and used to make dry curd cottage cheese if it does not have a technical or functional effect on the finished food, and if it is present in insignificant amounts in the finished cottage cheese. 21 CFR 173.340 limits the presence of dimethylpolysiloxane in a finished food to no more than 10ppm. Polymethylsiloxane may be added after pasteurization (as a powder or liquefied with safe water) if a firm can provide scientific evidence acceptable to FDA's Milk Safety Team that indicates dimethylpolysiloxane can be safely added to a pasteurized product, and if the standard of identity for that product allows for addition of “anti-foaming/de-foaming agents”.

If a firm adds flavoring and/or spices to Grade “A” sour cream and labels it “Chip Dip” (for example, French Onion Dip), should it be labeled as a Grade “A” product? Yes. The product would be considered a Grade “A” flavored sour cream. Under Section 6 of the PMO, flavored sour cream products must be sampled at the same frequency as other flavored milk/milk products.

Is the Regulatory Agency required to sample both plain and flavored yogurt per fat level, i.e., full fat, low fat and nonfat, as specific types of yogurt or can the Agency just sample categories without regard to whether the product is plain for flavored? Both plain and flavored yogurt at each fat level must be sampled. Section 6 of the PMO doesn't specify that each flavored milk product be sampled separately. It is recommended that each different flavor of yogurt at each fat level be sampled on a rotational basis.

If a Grade “A” plant is producing and shipping raw ultra-filtered (UF) milk products, are they required to sample and test the products or just the raw milk that the raw UF milk products are made from? Only the raw milk that the raw UF products are made from must be sampled and tested.

If a dairy plant uses city water and the city gives notice to all customers that the water supply is unsatisfactory, what should the plant do? If the water supply does not meet the PMO requirements, the State Regulatory Agency needs to verify that the plant adheres to the regulatory requirements and refrains from using the water, unless the plant can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Agency that the problem causing the unsatisfactory water has been addressed by the plant's water treatment program.

Do city water plumbing codes apply to reclaimed water that meets requirements for use as potable water? Water reclaimed from milk or milk products (from condensing or reverse osmosis processes, i.e., cow water) includes many of the same protections required for city water systems (prevention of cross connections with unsafe water and/or other possible contaminants), but the PMO requires that systems used for reclaimed water from milk and milk products must be completely separated from the potable water supply.

Will a quick wash on a HHST pasteurizer (done with the equipment remaining in forward flow) satisfy the requirement that the HHST equipment be cleaned every 24 hours? No.

What is the minimum time and temperature for steam sanitization of a processing vessel? Steam flow must be maintained at the outlet of the vessel for at least 5 minutes after temperature of the discharge at the outlet has reached 94 ° C (200°F).

A firm has charts covering CIP cleaning of processing tanks, but not the steam sanitizing of tanks. Can they just set the computer control system for steam sanitization without having a temperature recording device? No. If the sanitizing process is not performed as a continuous part of the cleaning cycle, then a separate record must be made of the sanitizing process. A means acceptable to the Regulatory Agency to verify that minimum required sanitization time/temperature was met must be provided.