Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

UPDATES AT VIRGINIA TECH

C apitol Hill Ice Cream Party

Food Science staff and students served ice cream and root beer floats to thousands of people, including many senators and Congressional members, at the 25 th annual Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party. The event was held outside the Senate Building in Washington , D.C. and was sponsored by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA). The intent is to celebrate National Dairy Month and to showcase current IDFA activities. The party also serves to bring attention to current issues concerning the dairy industry. Volunteers from VA Tech's Department of Food Science and from Penn State arrived in D.C. on June 21 st to dish up a huge selection of ice cream flavors. It wasn't unbearably hot this year, but a thunderstorm ended the event an hour earlier than was scheduled.

State Event Winners – VA FFA Dairy Foods

Teams from six Virginia high schools participated in the 2007 Dairy Foods Career Development event. The contest was held at the Department of Food Science on June 25 th as part of the 81 st VA State FFA Convention. Participants completed a written exam on milk production and marketing, evaluated milk samples for flavor and quality, identified a variety of cheeses, evaluated milk sediment pads and milker parts for defects, and identified samples as natural or artificial dairy products. The contest is one of many educational activities at the VA FFA State Convention.

High placing individuals received pins, and the state winning team received a plaque provided by the sponsors (Dwight and Carolyn Houff). The state winning team will compete at the National Career Development Event in Indianapolis , IN in October. The state runner up receives the opportunity to represent VA at the Big E competition in Massachusetts .

The team from the Spotswood FFA Chapter placed first in the contest. Team members were Daniel Beam, Karl Paulson, Michelle Wood and Jessica Rion. Team coach was Rebecca Halloway. The team from Sherando placed second and the Chapter from James Wood came in third in the competition. Top placing individuals were Daniel Beam of Spotswood (1 st ), Rusty Jenkins of James Wood (2 nd ) and Crystal Davis of Sherando (3 rd ).

FFA is a national youth organization of 476,732 student members preparing for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture. There are 7,223 local chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands . The VA FFA Association has over 10,800 members in 208 chapters. FFA strives to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Visit www.ffa.org and www.vaffa.org for more information.

HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

Dairy Products Offer Unique Benefits

Last September, Nippon Luna, a yogurt and fermented beverage subsidiary of Nippon Meat Packing Group, launched Platinum Yogurt. It is a product that builds on the Japanese tradition of adding flecks of gold leaf to the Sake beverage to signify wishes of good fortune. Sales have been brisk and a sports-type, drinkable yogurt also has been introduced. The product has a refreshing, not overly sweet taste and the packaging's silver metallic color targets those with a fondness for trendy products. But the uniqueness of the product is in its four micrograms of platinum colloid per container, an ingredient developed by Yusei Miyamoto, a Tokyo University professor.

Globally, many natural water products are sold on the basis of “miracle” curative properties. Scientists have investigated water possessing the ability to scavenge free radicals. Electrolyzed reduced water (ERW), which uses active hydrogen as the scavenger, is one type. As part of wider research in this area, many studies have analyzed the trace minerals in water. ERW was found to contain small amounts of platinum nanocolloids as atomic hydrogen (active hydrogen) donors that enable them to function as reactive oxygen species scavengers.

In his work, Miyamoto analyzed about 50 transition metals, some used as reduction catalysts in organic chemistry. He produced nanocolloids of dozens of metals and observed them in the presence of reactive oxygen species. Miyamoto's platinum nanocolloids have a particle size of 3.3 nanometers (i.e., billionths of a meter) and are thought to be an unusually powerful antioxidant. Translated roughly, Platinum Yogurt's promotional logo is “We will prevent you from getting rusty”.

Platinum colloid is a recognized functional ingredient. Although many experts caution about high intakes of these colloidal metals, the Japanese government permits their use as food additives. Nano-sized particle ingredients are being used in cosmetic products, especially in UV protectants and anti-aging skin creams. Health food and supplement companies are also beginning to include them in tablets and new age beverages.

The success of probiotic-containing Activia yogurt has motivated food companies to develop their own probiotic-containing products with a twist here and there to make them unique. Activia, promoted for its digestive health benefits, surpassed $100 million in U.S. retail grocery sales since the product's January 2006 introduction – a feat achieved by less than 0.1% of all new product launches. In March of 2007, Kraft Foods introduced cottage cheese under the Breakstone's and Knudsen LiveActive brands. Their literature notes: “Contains prebiotic fiber that helps consumers meet their daily fiber goals and naturally regulate the digestive system.” The company has also launched Kraft LiveActive Cheddar Cheese with Probiotics in Canada , touting it as “The only cheddar cheese in Canada that contains two beneficial probiotic cultures”. The U.S will introduce this product in September. Dean Foods has introduced probiotic cottage cheese under the Dean Foods, Country Fresh and Lan O' Lakes brands with the claim “Improves Digestion.” Lifeway Food Inc.'s Cultured Milk Smoothie Kefir notes that it contains “10 live and active Kefir cultures.” A container of DanActive consists of four small doses (3.3 oz. each) that contain three active cultures, a simple ingredient legend (“cultured reduced fat milk, water, sugar, dextrose”) and a structure/function claim (“clinically proven to help strengthen your body's defenses.

While dairy-based products and dietary supplements have been the traditional probiotic strongholds, these microbes are often found in other applications as well. For example, Mintel's Global New Products Database shows that Flowers Foods recently launched Mrs. Freshley's Snack Away Peanut Butter Wafers with the claim “Contains Probiotics” on the package front and Lactobacillus rhamnosus in the ingredient legend. Attune Foods Inc.'s Cool Mint Chocolate bar sports a “Probiotics good for life!” logo. Its website attests to each Attune bar as containing “more than 10 billion probiotics,” and the bars are formulated to “ensure each bar contains an effective number of probiotics when purchased.”