Controlling Yeast in Cheese Production: Strategies for Quality Assurance
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Controlling Yeast in Cheese Production: Strategies for Quality Assurance

ByClarence Johnson

Yeast contamination is of minimal concern in fluid milk production, but its impact can be significant in cheese and fermented dairy products where unwanted yeast may alter flavor, texture, and overall product quality. Understanding the growth parameters and spoilage mechanisms of yeast in cheese production is key to developing effective control strategies. Process monitoring strategies…

NoLo Beer Trends and Issues with Beer Spoilage Bacteria
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NoLo Beer Trends and Issues with Beer Spoilage Bacteria

ByGwen Raddatz

The NoLo beer segment is experiencing significant growth, with a 40% increase in sales in recent years. (Howarth, J., 2024) This trend is part of a broader shift in the beverage industry towards healthier options and diversified product lines. According to Beverage Industry, the low- and no-alcohol category is spearheading market growth, with more consumers seeking…

Preventive and Predictive Maintenance: What is the Difference?
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Preventive and Predictive Maintenance: What is the Difference?

ByNeil Bogart

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the liquid food industry, maintenance strategies play a pivotal role in ensuring operational efficiency, product quality, and safety. Among these strategies, preventive and predictive maintenance stand out as two fundamental approaches, each with its distinct methodology and impact on the production lifecycle. Understanding the nuances of the these maintenance…

The Crucial Role of Raw Milk Microbial Testing in Producing High-Quality Dairy Products
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The Crucial Role of Raw Milk Microbial Testing in Producing High-Quality Dairy Products

ByMara Herschbach

The dairy industry globally strives to meet high-quality standards for processed products. One key to achieving this is raw milk microbial testing, a meticulous monitoring process that examines raw milk’s microbiological parameters. In this blog, we review the significance of these parameters, including somatic cell counts (SCC) and bacterial counts, and their direct impact on…

Combat Microbial Spoilage: Ensuring Dairy Quality Assurance with QualiTru
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Combat Microbial Spoilage: Ensuring Dairy Quality Assurance with QualiTru

ByClarence Johnson

The dairy industry faces the continuous challenge of maintaining the safety and quality of milk and its derivatives. Despite significant advancements in processing technologies, a 2018 paper in the Journal of Dairy Science reported that nearly half of all fluid milk products show evidence of post-pasteurization contamination with psychrotrophic or psychrotolerant spoilage organisms.1 This contamination primarily stems from…

The Process of Sampling and Testing and the Importance of Starting with Results in Mind
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The Process of Sampling and Testing and the Importance of Starting with Results in Mind

ByJack van der Sanden

In the world of food safety in the dairy industry, one of the key pillars is the process of sampling and testing. And we do test a lot! Starting on the farm, we test from the cows to the pens to the holding tanks and all the way to the tanker. Then at the dairy plant,…

Leveraging Sanitary Survey Sampling for In-Process Quality Control
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Leveraging Sanitary Survey Sampling for In-Process Quality Control

ByRuth Petran

In a typical food plant, appropriate preventive controls are implemented to address the inevitable hazards from a variety of sources to ensure that the resulting products are safe.  As part of these programs, we traditionally think of sampling ingredients or finished products to help verify the effectiveness and thorough implementation of these controls. Many food companies…

Sterile or Aseptic? Understanding the Difference
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Sterile or Aseptic? Understanding the Difference

ByClarence Johnson

Ensuring the quality and safety of dairy and food products is the number one priority of processors, explaining why questions surrounding sterile or aseptic frequently enter into the conversation, especially when discussing equipment cleanliness and sampling or testing techniques. While the words sterile and aseptic are often used interchangeably, they are not, in fact, interchangeable….

Economics of Quality Assurance in Dairy Processing
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Economics of Quality Assurance in Dairy Processing

ByClarence Johnson

A cost-benefit analysis of a well-conceived and carefully sustained quality assurance program for dairy processing is hard to pin down. Every month, the costs associated with maintaining quality assurance jump off the profit and loss statement, but the benefits are much harder to decipher. Still, when evaluating the economics of quality assurance over the long…

Importance of Hazard Analysis to Ensure Food Safety with Emerging Food Trends
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Importance of Hazard Analysis to Ensure Food Safety with Emerging Food Trends

ByRuth Petran

The food market has transformed significantly in recent years, from the year-round availability of fresh produce to emerging niche products like cell-grown meats to online food ordering and delivery services. Consumers have not only created a demand for alternative food options but have been able to directly engage with food manufacturers, which makes the importance…