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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
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Issue 46          Food Science and Technology        November 2002

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Virginia State University
Faculty:

Susan Duncan, Dairy and Sensory Evaluation

Expertise Areas: Dairy product processing and quality, sensory evaluation

Phone:(540) 231-8675 Fax: (540) 231-9293 Email:duncans@vt.edu

Bill Eigel,                Food Biochemistry

Expertise Areas: Laboratory quality control, lab analytical techniques (non-microbial)

Phone: (540) 231-6877 Fax: (540) 231-9293 Email: weigel@vt.edu

Joe Marcy:               Food Processing

Expertise Areas: Juice Processing, packaging and aseptics

Phone:(540) 231-7850 Fax: (540) 231-9293 Email: jmarcy@vt.edu

Merle Pierson: Food Microbiology

Expertise Areas: HACCP, Dairy microbiology, Regulatory

Phone:     (540) 231-8641

Fax:         (540) 231-9293

Email:     piersonm@vt.edu

 Sean O’Keefe: Food Chemistry

Expertise Areas: Product Development

Phone:     (540) 231-2075

Fax:         (540) 231-9293

Email:      okeefes@vt.edu

 

Susan Sumner:   Food Safety

Expertise Areas: Dairy microbiology, food safety, lactic acid bacteria, shelf-life and HACCP

Phone: (540) 231-5280 Fax:      (540) 231-9293 Email:sumners@vt.edu

Dairy Staff:

Walter Hartman:    Dairy Plant Manager whartman@vt.edu

Kim Waterman:  Dairy Chemistry    Kwater@vt.edu

Brian Yaun: Microbiology byaun@vt.edu           Phone: (540) 231-8697

 

Updates at Virginia Tech

  Happy Thanksgiving from all of us!

 Research Highlights

 

The Effects of Starch-based Anti-caking Agents on the Functional Properties of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

     Increased production of mozzarella cheese can be attributed to increased market demand in the fast food and pizza industries.  In an effort to satisfy industry needs, new focus has been placed on better understanding the functional properties of mozzarella cheese.  Anti-caking agents are utilized in the production of shredded cheese for reducing clumping and improving the appearance of separate cheese shreds.  Three functional properties of heated mozzarella cheese- meltability, stretchability, and free oil formation- are used as guidelines for determining acceptability of cheese quality when various anti-caking formulations are applied to shredded cheese.  Traditionally, powdered cellulose has been used as an anti-caking agent because of its effectiveness in creating a barrier. Undesirable characteristics of cellulose include excessive dusting and a white appearance on shred surfaces.  Potato starch has been considered as an alternative because of excellent binding capacity, high water content and lower manufacturing costs. Departmental research was recently conducted to determine what differences in functional properties result when anti-caking agent formulations containing potato starch are applied to low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese. 

     Six different anti-caking agent formulations were examined for their effects on three major functional properties of mozzarella cheese.  Meltability determination utilizing a modified helical viscometry procedure resulted in no significant differences between untreated samples and samples treated with anti-caking agents containing cellulose, potato starch or mixtures including dextrose.  Stretchability measurements taken using a Brookfield viscometer also resulted in no significant differences between untreated and treated samples.  Significant results were noted for free oil formation.  The potato starch/cellulose blend (88% : 12%) and 100% potato starch anti-caking agents resulted in the lowest amount of free oil formation, respectively.  It was concluded that substitution of potato starch for cellulose in anti-caking agent formulations will result in a functionally acceptable melted cheese product.  Furthermore, the reduction in free oil formation by the addition of potato starch based anti-caking agents helps to increase consumer acceptability of the product.

  HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

Arla Foods acquires UK cheese importer HT Webb & Co

     Nov 13, 2002 (NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT via COMTEX) -- The Danish-Swedish dairy group Arla Foods said today  that it had acquired the United Kingdom cheese producer, importer and distributor HT Webb & Co for an undisclosed sum.

     HT Webb & Co is a leading UK cheese supplier with 260 employees and an annual turnover of DKK700m. The acquisition further strengthens Arla Foods' position on the UK market.

     One Danish krone (DKK) is worth approximately 0.09 British pounds (GBP).

 

Maine Dairy Farmers Struggle with Plummeting Milk Prices

     FIELD CENTER, Maine, Nov 10, 2002 (Portland Press Herald - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Dairy farmers desperate for a living wage watched Saturday as 10,000 gallons of their product flowed from a milk truck into a manure pit.

     Two dozen farmers, mostly from central Maine, gathered at the home of Egide Dostie II and his wife, Carrie Dostie, who owe $1 million on the farm they purchased five years ago. The group said dairy farmers can no longer operate with milk prices that have plummeted since the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact expired a year ago.

     Dostie said his land cannot support more than the 270 cows he now milks. Others said they must add cows every year just to stay even. "That should not be the solution," he said. "You can only support so many cows with a certain land base."

     Konrad Bailey, owner of Bailey Hill Farm & Dairy in Farmington, has produced a proposal that he will mail to his fellow farmers seeking $15 per hundredweight of milk. Farmers now get $12 per hundredweight, far less than what they consider a living wage.

     Bailey said excessive profits from major conglomerates such as Kraft Foods Inc., coupled with unfair competition from imports, are the problem. He disagreed with the notion -- upheld by the state -- that Maine farmers are overproducing.

     "What it is is the fabrication of numbers to make people think there's a surplus," Bailey said. "Everybody just wants to keep the farmer happy and quiet. Right now there's not enough milk to go around."

     Starting this week, according to Donald Gage of New Sharon, Maine-produced milk will stay in the state. "Common sense tells me that the milk is staying in Maine because it's needed in Maine" Gage said.

     Gage and his wife, Jill, milk 50 cows on a farm that has been in the family since 1950. He said he had to sell two tractors last week because he couldn't afford to keep them. "We will continue to try to get a compact back," Gage said. "The government's got their fingers in our business anyway, so it's back to the government for help. If you could just stop all that importation, then supply and demand would work fine."

     Agriculture Commissioner Robert W. Spear insisted that milk overproduction exists. Spear just returned from a meeting in Vermont, where commissioners from around the Northeast tried to organize a new compact.

     "I was with all the milk people yesterday and we know the cause of this nationwide is an oversupply," Spear said. "One of the things we have to learn is supply management. We don't want quotas, but we have to manage the supply. We will continue to try to get a compact back."

Portland Press Herald, Maine. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.