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

83rd Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest

The 2004 Virginia Tech Dairy Products Evaluation Team participated in the national contest held November 5 th and 6 th in Lakeland, FL. Eighteen schools from the United States and Canada participated.

VA Tech's Tamesha Ballard (Ph.D. candidate; Biological Systems Engineering) was a top contestant, placing 1st among 19 students evaluating milk quality. She also placed 1st among graduate students in evaluating quality characteristics of cheddar cheese and 7th in butter and cottage cheese evaluation. Overall, she placed 6th in the contest. Brian Stanek (junior; FST) and Noelle Todd (senior; FST) participated in the undergraduate competition. Team members Sommar Nettles (junior; FST) and Ashley Noce (senior; Dairy Science) practiced extensively with the team but were unable to participate. Their absence prevented competition as a team; however, the team members who attended were able to compete as individuals. Brian placed 13th in evaluation of cottage cheese among 51 contestants and 20th in yogurt and milk quality evaluation. Noelle placed 29th in evaluation of milk quality.

The VA Dairy Tech Society will provide scholarships to the VA Tech students who competed in the Collegiate Contest. Training for and participating in the contest is a valuable experience because it teaches students to recognize sensory characteristics of high quality dairy products. Students that develop these skills can recognize quality problems that may lead to consumer complaints and potential problem-solving avenues for correcting offensive sensory changes. Students who have graduated and are looking for employment report that experience on the dairy products evaluation team is a topic that is frequently discussed during interviews, validating the importance of the experience to employers.

Janet Webster (Ph.D. candidate; FST) served as the graduate student coach, mentored by Dr. Susan Duncan (Professor; FST). Walter Hartman (Dairy Processing Plant Manager; FST) was the assistant coach.

Mississippi State University won the “All Products” undergraduate contest and Caroline Naar (graduate student; University of Tennessee ) won the “All Products” graduate competition.

  HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

Oxygen Scavenging Packaging Reduces Spoilage of Dairy Products

Multisorb Technologies, a leader in active packaging solutions, has developed FreshPax oxygen sorbents that naturally maintain shelf life and quality of packaged cheese and cheese products without additives or preservatives.
FreshPax aids in retaining food taste and color by effectively removing oxygen from the interior packaging environment. The packaging can be used for foods such as cheeses, yogurt and sour cream, and can protect other dairy foods from spoilage, mold growth and aerobic degradation.
The concept of bacteria-fighting packaging is of great interest to food manufacturers eager to appeal to increasing consumer demand for fewer additives.
Advances in active packaging have resulted in development of oxygen scavengers, antimicrobial films and gas permeable packages to keep foods fresh. Removal of oxygen from packaging retains the natural color and preserves nutritive value of food products. FreshPax works to continually absorb oxygen that permeates packaging throughout the product's shelf life, thereby minimizing the need for BHA, BHT, sulfur dioxide, sorbates, benzoates, and other food additives.
The oxygen sorbent sachets are available in a wide variety of sizes and fills to ensure adequate oxygen absorber capacity.
The sachets are made entirely from food grade materials and can be used by themselves or in conjunction with vacuum/ gas flushed packaging to further reduce ambient oxygen present at the time of packaging.

Increased Milk Sales Reported at Fast Food Restaurants

Two years ago, a study sponsored by the Dairy Marketing Institute (DMI) found that milk packaged in PET and HDPE plastic bottles outsold paperboard containers by 18% overall in school cafeterias and vending machines. Study results influenced hamburger chains Wendy's International, Inc. and McDonald's Corp. to begin marketing lowfat chocolate and plain milk packaged 8 oz plastic bottles with a cool shape and snazzy graphics. Wendy's reports that milk sales have risen fifteen-fold since July – to more than a million units a week. This figure is up from 65,000. McDonald's says that milk sales have doubled since May and they are projecting 208 million unit sales this year (or 13 million gallons). About 25% of Happy Meals are being ordered with milk since the “milk jug” made its debut.

U.S. Cheesemakers Compete for World Recognition

Fifty-three U.S. cheesemakers went to London in September to compete at the 17 th World Cheese Awards which is one of two major international cheese contests. Cheesemakers competed in 47 contests with a total of 226 cheese entries. There were more than 1,500 cheeses entered in the contest, so competition was stiff. Twenty-three U.S. cheese companies took home a total of 44 medals (15 gold, 15 silver and 14 bronze), thereby showing the world that U.S. cheese performs well against some of the world's most respected brands and that it makes many of the world's best cheese products.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) was a sponsor of the event and provided U.S. cows' milk cheesemakers with financial support to enter and ship cheeses to the contest. When U.S. cheeses win accolades in global competitions, the products gain respect from cheese connoisseurs around the world and the value of U.S. cheese increases. The U.S. has been very successful selling products to countries with few access barriers, but the 25 countries that make up the European Union have access barriers that make it hard to penetrate their markets. World Trade Organization agreements should change in the next few years, opening markets to more U.S. products.

According to USDA figures, the U.S. exported 52,112 metric tons of cheese in 2003. Primary export markets for U.S. cheeses are Japan , Mexico , Canada and South Korea . The U.S. only exported 2,707 metric tons of cheese into Europe last year, but European cheese shop owners are becoming more interested in selling farmstead U.S. cheeses. The strong showing at the World Cheese Awards will help elevate the image of U.S. cheeses in export markets. Europeans no longer think U.S. cheeses come individually wrapped, with a dozen slices to a pack.

Artisan cheesemakers interested in participating in next year's contest should call USDEC at 703/528-3049.