Welcome to the dairy case, a round-up of what’s new in products, companies and marketing. In this issue: Babcock Hall Dairy Plant, Gifford’s Dairy, Byrne Dairy, Vermont Farmstead Cheese, Paleteria La Super, Paleteria La Michoacana, MilkPEP, FSMA, webinars, seminars and more.
Welcome to Jim Carper's Dairy Case, a look at the new dairy products, companies and marketing efforts making the news.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Babcock Hall, Gifford’s Dairy Named Tops in Dairy Foods
Babcock Hall Dairy Plant, Madison, WI was selected as the Cheese and Butter Grand Champion and Gifford’s Dairy, Skowhegan, ME was selected as the Grade A & Ice Cream Grand Champion of the World Dairy Expo (WDE) Championship Dairy Product Contest. This year’s contest, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn. (WDPA), received a record number of 705 entries for cheese, butter, fluid milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, sour cream, sherbet, cultured milk, sour cream dips, whipping cream, dried whey and creative/innovative products from throughout the United States. See all the winners on the World Dairy Expo website. worldairyexpo.com
On October 4, the contest’s auction will be held at World Dairy Expo in Madison, at which time all category 1st place winners will be auctioned off. A portion of the proceeds from the October 4 contest auction will be used to fund the Dr. Robert Bradley Scholarship Fund.
Byrne Dairy Wins N.Y. State Fair Milk Competition
With a perfect score of 100%, Cornell University’s Department of Food Science has announced that Byrne Dairy won First Place in the 2011 New York State Fair Fluid Milk Quality Competition.
Representative milk samples from 21 New York State plants were collected and evaluated by Cornell University on separate occasions throughout the year. Byrne Dairy’s Fresh Plant received the highest possible rating of 100 after all of the results were recorded, judged and totaled for the following various categories: Flavor, Bacteria, Butterfat and Freezing Point.
Mike Moehringer, Byrne Dairy’s Fresh Plant General Manager said, “We start with an excellent raw milk supply from our local Central New York farms and our employees work very hard every day to maintain and optimize our processes to deliver great tasting milk to our customers.”
An awards ceremony will be held at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY on Dairy Day, August 29th 2011. Bill Byrne, Vice President of Quality Control and the Chairman of Byrne Dairy’s Board said: “Byrne Dairy is very pleased to receive this award. We would like to congratulate our employees for the achievement of a 100% score in this grading, and their daily effort to provide our customers with the best quality milk. We thank Cornell's Milk Quality Improvement Program for its support, and its continuing effort in working with us to assure top quality for our customers.”
Byrne Dairy is a family-owned manufacturer and distributor of milk, dairy, and ice cream products. For more information visit the Byrne Dairy website.
3 Gold Medals for Vermont Cheesemaker
Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co. was awarded three Gold Medals at the Los Angeles International Dairy Competition for BrickHaus Tilsit ( in the havarti category), WindsorDale (open class hard cheese) and AleHouse Cheddar (flavored hard cheese). The winning cheeses will be on display at the LA County Fair, which opens Sept. 3 in Pomona, Calif. The Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co. is an artisanal cheese and dairy facility in South Woodstock, Vt. The company was conceived and founded as a community based effort to preserve the rural way of life in South Woodstock. Follow the Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co. on Facebook and at its website.
Portable Snacks Include Cheese, Yogurt
Lifestyle Foods, York., Pa., launched the G2 next-generation line of grab-and-go snacks with fewer than 170 calories. The prepackaged snacks include two with dairy products. The Shred Snack contains the grilled chicken breast strips and cubes of white cheddar cheese. The Obsessed Snack has Greek yogurt and honey graham sticks.
Paleteria La Super Recalls Ice Cream Bars
Paleteria La Super, Yakima, Wash., is voluntarily recalling nut, esquimal, and pina colada flavored ice cream bars because they may contain undeclared walnuts, milk, and coconut. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to walnuts, milk, and coconut run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product. The flavored ice cream bars contain undeclared allergens as follows:
Nut: 3.5 oz. Ice cream bar contains but ingredient statement did not declare walnuts.
Esquimal: 3.5 oz. Ice cream bar contains but ingredient statement did not declare milk.
Pina colada: 3.5 oz. Ice cream bar contains but ingredient statement did not declare coconut.
The Nut, Esquimal, and Pina Colada flavor ice cream bars were distributed to retail stores in Yakima areas in Washington. Products are sold under Paleteria La Super brand.
The products are packaged in clear plastic wrapper, and are not coded with any lot codes or best by dates. The products can be stored in freezer up to three months. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem. The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the Walnut, Milk, and Coconut containing products were distributed in packaging that did not declare the presence of Walnut, Milk, and Coconut. This recall is being made with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration. Consumers who have bought these products are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company directly at 509-949-8544 between the hours of 8:00-5:00 PST.
DAIRY PROCESSORS
Nominate a Dairy Exporter
Dairy Foods and the U.S. Dairy Export Council seek nominations for the 2011 Tom Camerlo Exporter of the Year. The honor, named to recognize the long-time leader of the United States Dairy Export Council (USDEC), is bestowed upon a U.S. company that exhibits exceptional leadership and commitment to the international market. Nominees should demonstrate an active role in driving the growth of global dairy demand; industry leadership in advancing U.S. dairy exports; company resources committed to export market development; and export sales success.
In 2010, United Dairymen of Arizona was the recipient. A long-time USDEC member, UDA had exported more in the first six months of 2010 than in the previous two years combined. The Tempe, Airz., based cooperative has about 70 producer members.
Previous recipeints of this award are Hilmar Ingredients (2009), Schreiber Foods (2008), Darigold (2007) and Davisco Foods (2006).
Growth For Processor of Hispanic-oriented Dairy Foods
Nominations Sought For ‘Green’ Practices
The Innovation for U.S. Dairy seeks nominees for its new U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program. The awards recognize dairy farms and businesses for practices that deliver outstanding economic, environmental and/or social benefit, all helping to advance sustainability of the dairy industry. It is accepting nominations in the following categories:
- The Elanco Award for Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability
- Outstanding Dairy Processing & Manufacturing Sustainability
- Outstanding Achievement in Energy
Contact InnovationCenter[at]USDairy.com for more information, or see the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards website.
DAIRY REGULATION
MilkPEP Promotes Flavored Milks with Fewer Calorie, Sugars
The Milk Processor Education Program issued a press release this week describing the efforts of milk processors to reduce sugars in flavored milk. Some school districts are banning the beverages or regulating what is sold in schools. According to the release:
“We should be focused on ways to encourage milk consumption, not implement policies that could backfire," said pediatric nutritionist Keith Ayoob, Ed.D., RD. "It's tragic to see the chronically low levels of calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients in young children and teens that could easily be increased if they simply drank more milk."
Ayoob believes there are several misconceptions about flavored milk. For instance, not all of the sugar you see on the label is "added sugar." Some of the total grams are naturally-occurring lactose. For instance, a fat free chocolate milk with 143 calories and 24 grams of total sugars, includes only 12 grams of added sugar (or sucrose) per 8-ounce serving. The remaining sugar is the naturally-occurring lactose that's also found in white milk.
Despite some of the high-profile debates over flavored milk, a recent study of 1,000 moms found that more than half (54%) would be opposed to a decision made by their children's schools or school districts to stop offering chocolate milk. (5) Parents say they want their children to learn to make choices for themselves and not have decisions made for them. The survey found that parents appreciate that the availability of chocolate milk increases milk intake for some children who do not drink white milk.
For more information about flavored milk, including detailed findings of the research on flavored milk in schools, visit WhyMilk.com or Facebook.com/MilkMustache.
The Food Safety Modernization Act gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration increased powers to view records (except financial records) kept by dairy processors. Processors will be required to turn over records, including HACCP records, to FDA inspectors who are investigating whether foods have been adulterated or misbranded.
Allen Sayler, vp of food safety, technology & regulatory solutions at Randolph Associates Inc., Birmingham, Ala., briefed dairy processors, suppliers and others today during the 60-minute webinar, “FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act: Implications for Dairy Processors,” presented by Dairy Foods magazine. Sayler also writes a column about food safety for the magazine.
Processors will need formal, written HACCP programs and will be required to update them every three years, although Sayler recommends an annual revision.
To the four hazards-biological, physical, chemical and terrorism-FSMA has added radiological agents, which fall under the chemical section. “We all need to brush up on our physics,” Sayler said.
Dairy processors need to have a “robust” supplier verification program that includes supply chain management, he said.
While plants will have to register with the FDA (at no cost) in even-numbered years, there will be inspections every three years for foods considered high risk and every five years for low-risk foods. While the FDA has not yet identified the risks for each food, Sayler supposes that dairy powders will be considered low risk and all other dairy foods high risk.
Sayler said he is not bothered by the FDA’s new authority to issue mandatory recalls, because state agencies already have that power. He did express concern about FDA’s power to order the detention of any article of food for up to 30 days if the officer or qualified employee has reason to believe that the article of food is adulterated or misbranded. That long of a time would effectively push foods beyond their expiration date.
As for transporting of foods, dairy processors need to be able to identify the “immediate previous source” (that is, where the ingredient came from) and the “immediate subsequent recipient” (where the product is going to). Processors might have to created records beyond invoices and bills of lading.
The entire webinar is available in the archives.
DAIRY CALENDAR
Sept. 15. "Mainstreaming" Kosher: Taking Ethnic/Specialty Foods to the Masses and Growing Beyond your Specialty Niche, a free webinar sponsored by Kosherfest. Register.
Sept. 27-29. Cultured Dairy Products Short Course, Penn State University. 877-778-2937.
Dec. 12-15. The Science and Art of Cheese Making, Penn State University. 877-778-2937.
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