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

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

updates at Virginia tech

17^th Annual Dairy Quality Control Conference

     Virginia Tech’s Department of Food Science and Technology and the Virginia Dairy Tech Society will host the 17^th Annual Virginia Dairy Quality Control Conference on Tuesday, September 9^th at German Club Manor (711 Southgate Drive at Virginia Tech).  This year’s program promises to be very informative with a variety of topics, including biosecurity and NCIMS standards.  Speakers from the FST Department, IDFA, DMI, USDA, FDA and VDACS will provide overviews of many exciting projects pertinent to their particular agency. Attendees also will have the opportunity to meet the new Dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia Tech.   Following the program, participants will be treated to the traditional shrimp boil/ barbeque dinner.  Check-in is at 8:30 a.m. on September 9^th.  For more information call (540)231-6805 or email rakestra@vt.edu

 HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

 Land O'Lakes Recalls Salted Stick Butter

     Arden Hills, MN -- July 26, 2003 -- Land O'Lakes is voluntarily recalling a limited quantity of LAND O LAKES® Salted Stick Butter in one-pound packages. The product may contain small fragments of metal. There have been no reports of injury or illness associated with the consumption of the product covered by this recall.  The product was distributed in: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.  This voluntary recall does not include any other butter products, production codes or any other LAND O LAKES® products.

FDA to Review Ways to Reduce the Risk of Contamination Involving the Processing of Food

     As part of its continuing effort to ensure the safety and security of the nation's food supply, the Food and Drug Administration today announced it has contracted with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) to conduct an in-depth review of preventive measures that food processors may take to reduce the risk for an intentional act of terrorism or contamination. As part of this contract, IFT will provide information about temperature, technology, chemical treatments, and other ways that may reduce or mitigate the risk.

     The review will assess ways to prevent or reduce the risk of contamination of processed food either through natural or intentional acts and will provide information on various research needs that might be used for eliminating or reducing the risk. There are more than 57,000 food processors in the U.S. that provide processed foods to citizens and exports to the world and over 1.2 million retail food facilities serving and/or selling foods directly to the consumer.    

     This effort will complement ongoing food security efforts and proposed regulations. The industry guidances, published in March 2003, are not regulations and are not mandatory. Those guidances identified the kinds of preventive measures that may be taken to minimize the risk that food under their control will be subject to tampering or other malicious, criminal, or terrorist actions, and they focused on management, staff, public access (visitors), the facility and operations.

     The IFT review will focus on preventive controls and research needs that might be used for eliminating or reducing the risk of an intentional act of terrorism or contamination for high and medium risk combinations of various food commodities and agents. The review will include information on how these research needs technologies work, optimization of the method or processes, effectiveness, limitations in use, and equipment or methods for monitoring to ensure method and processes efficiency throughout the entire operation.  The review is expected to be completed by June 2004.

Dairy Farms Turn To Cheese and Other Ventures to Make Ends Meet

     Londonderry, Vt. (AP) -- Small dairy farmers increasingly are finding that farming the old-fashioned way won't pay the bills, prompting more and more to turn to niche markets and side businesses. Selling milk to distributors sometimes earns as little as 11 cents per pound -- less than it costs to produce it. Hoping to turn that around, Jon Wright, a Maine dairy farmer, decided turning his milk into cheese held more promise for profits.  Now he sells artisanal Gouda online and in specialty stores for $9 per pound.

     "If we had continued milking cows we would be out of business by now," Wright said. "The cheese is definitely what has kept us going." These are tough times for small New England dairy farmers. Many say they are being squeezed out by low prices and competition from large farms out West. Most New Hampshire farmers earn about $1 per gallon for raw milk, but it can cost anywhere from 83 cents to $1.40 to produce. The state now has just 155 dairy farmers, down from 2,000 in 1960.

     In Maine, where milk is a $100 million industry, the number of dairy farms dropped from 775 in 1986 to 412 today. And Vermont has nearly halved its number to 1,459 during the last 15 years.

     "There are very few making it solely on the income of milk," said state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor. He said more cash-strapped farmers are bottling their own milk (allowing them to set the shelf price), growing vegetables to sell at farmers' markets, selling hay or manure compost, or breeding cattle for other farmers.

      In Vermont, a booming artisanal cheese industry has grown out of the desperation of dairy farmers. Unlike raw milk, fancy cheeses can be marketed online directly to consumers, many of whom will pay a premium for handmade cheese.

     "We not only are marketing this cheese, but we're also marketing Vermont and this way of life," Wright said, while dunking wedges of cheese in a steaming vat of the red wax that Gouda cheese traditionally is packaged in. Wright has 45 cows and produces 800 pounds of cheese a week.    

     Herbert York, another Maine dairy farmer switched to organic farming last year. He now charges nearly twice as much for his milk, and can't keep up with demand. By going organic, York also saves on shipping. He said conventional milk distributors charge farmers for trucking the milk -- he paid $35,000 last year -- but demand for organic is so high that distributors collect it for free.

     Other Maine dairies are taking advantage of a new law allowing the sale of unpasteurized milk, for which there is a growing demand in the state. As with other specialty products, farmers can charge a premium for this milk.