Welcome to Jim Carper's Dairy Case, a look at the people, processors and products in the news.

DAIRY MARKETING

Actress Salma Hayek and celebrity TV chef Ellie Krieger are teaming up with the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign to launch "The Breakfast Project" to help more Americans enjoy breakfast at home, with milk. Hayek will be the face of the multifaceted and bilingual campaign, where she will appear in two TV spots, directed by award-winning Hollywood cinematographer Wally Pfister. The ads begin airing nationally on Feb. 27. Read more about the Milk Processor Education Program campaign in the February Dairy Foods or online.

FDA ACTIONS ON RAW MILK, ORANGE JUICE

A federal court has granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a permanent injunction preventing Daniel L. Allgyer and his Rainbow Acres Farm from distributing raw milk and raw milk products in final package form for human consumption across state lines. U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, also ruled that Allgyer’s participation in a so-called “private buying club” does not shield him from federal oversight, and that Allgyer’s “cow share” agreements are a subterfuge for sales of raw milk. Members of the private buying club had allegedly purchased “shares” of individual cows and then claimed that their reputed ownership entitled them to raw milk from those cows. Allgyer provided the association members who lived outside of Pennsylvania with containers of raw milk, even though federal law prohibits sales of raw milk for human consumption across state lines. Raw milk sales are legal within the state of Pennsylvania. Allgyer also violated federal law by not providing any labeling on the raw milk containers sold to consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration reported today it has collected samples from 106 shipments of orange juice or orange juice concentrate. Of these, 77 shipments tested negative for carbendazim, a pesticide that is not legal for use on oranges in the United States, and 58 of them have already been released. Of the 58 samples, 18 were shipments from Mexico, 22 from Canada, three from Dominican Republic, two each from Italy, Argentina, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Trinidad & Tobago, and one each from Brazil, Lebanon, Belize, Thailand and Turkey. FDA has found 24 samples that tested positive, meaning that each sample contained 10 parts per billion or more of carbendazim. Each sample represents one shipment. The agency has detained and/or refused 24 shipments. In addition, the information from the testing has been used to add associated manufacturers to Import Alert 99-08. Of the 24 samples, 12 were shipments from Canada and 12 were from Brazil. See FDA Sampling of Import Orange Juice/Juice Products for Carbendazim.

CHEESE CONTEST

Entries in the 2012 World Championship Cheese Contest have reached a new peak, growing eight percent to a record-breaking 2,503 entries from 24 nations around the world, according to Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, host of the competition. Entries are arriving now for the judging competition set for March 5-7 in Madison, Wisconsin.

“It’s a wonderful challenge to execute the world’s largest technical cheese and butter contest,” said John Umhoefer, WCMA executive director. “We would like to congratulate and thank the world dairy community for supporting this exciting competition.”

An international panel of 40 cheese evaluation experts will work three days at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin, to select medalists in a record 83 cheese and butter classes. 

“With new entering nations such as India, Romania, Estonia and Croatia joining cheesemaking nations on six continents, this can truly be called a world competition,” said Robert Aschebrock, chief judge for the World Championship Cheese Contest.

COMPANIES AND PEOPLE

Attitude Drinks, a beverage brand development company and creator of Phase III Recovery, announced that it closed on a $1 million capital private placement.  The pure milk recovery drink is sold in select local, regional and national markets including colleges, universities, convenience stores, fitness centers and gyms, as well as online.

Craig Colonno of Anderson Erickson Dairy, Des Moines, Iowa was elected President of the National Ice Cream Mix Association (NICMA) at the organization’s Annual Meeting & Convention in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Colonno succeeds Brian DeFelice of Dairy Enterprises, Inc. who completed a two-year term of office. In addition, Joe Duscher of Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Buffalo, N.Y., was elected to serve as Vice President and Pat Galloway of Classic Mix Partners, LLC, Neenah, Wis., was elected to serve as Treasurer. NICMA also elected Ed Coryn of Dairy-Mix, Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla.; Paul Dean, Scholle Packaging, Inc., Northlake, Ill.; and Steve Steinwart, Meadowvale, Inc., Yorkville, Ill., to serve as representatives on the Board of Directors for a new three-year term.

The American Dairy Products Institute announced the appointment of David Thomas as their new chief executive officer.