Dairy Foods Columnists - Articles

Formulating ice cream with prebiotics, probiotics

Processors can introduce these healthy bacteria into frozen desserts by using syrups, sauces and inclusions.

May 14, 2012

In our February column we discussed the importance of digestive health as the basis of all good nutrition and the role ice cream products could play in terms of providing probiotic (consumption of “live and active beneficial” bacteria) and/or probiotic friendly (that is, prebiotic) mix ingredients. We reviewed delivery of probiotics via active culturing and/or cold inoculation.

Formulating the next generation of cultured dairy foods

Adding micronutrients to cultured dairy products is one way to address health and wellness. Will processors respond with innovative new products?

Phillip S. Tong

May 14, 2012

Consumers recognize that cultured dairy products (including yogurt, cottage cheese and fermented milk beverages) are healthy and good-for-you choices. Health professionals consider cultured dairy foods to be nutrient-dense foods, meaning they have a high nutrient-to-energy ratio.

America’s hunger games

America, our land of amber waves of grain and ample milk production, produces plenty of food. We’re obese. And yet we’re hungry.

James Carper

May 10, 2012

Milk production has increased 15% in the 10 years from 2002 to 2011. And 2012 is off to a good start, with production in the first quarter up 5.2% compared to the same period a year ago. Total cheese production (excluding cottage cheeses) rose 3.6% in 2010 to 10.4 billion pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Italian varieties (at 4.42 billion pounds) rose 5.8%, and American-type cheese increased 1.7%, accounting for 41% of total cheese production. Clearly, America’s dairy processors are productive.

Using Alternative Sweeteners: Consider Consumers’ Perceptions

Karen Giles-Smith MS, RD

April 24, 2012

Help ensure product success by having a finger on the pulse of consumers’ perceptions about alternative sweeteners.

Dealing With the Wild Swings of Stabilizer Prices

Now is a good time to take a new look at low-viscosity polysaccharides such as gum acacia to stabilize ice cream.

Bruce Tharp

Steven Young

April 12, 2012

Virtually all frozen desserts have a need for stabilization. Stabilizers extend the shelf life of products subjected to heat shock during distribution, sale and home storage. This functionality is related to the limitation of water mobility, which, unchecked, can negatively affect the growth of ice and other crystals in the product.

Water management practices in dairy processing plants

The best fluid-milk plants use about one-half gallon of water per gallon of milk processed. The least efficient plants use four times that amount.

Clay Detlefsen

April 10, 2012

I have been at the International Dairy Foods Association for 22 years, and during that time water usage and wastewater discharges have always been important issues.Discussions about water in the past were usually about wastewater. Historically, municipalities added more and more houses and businesses to their sewage treatment plants, but did not upgrade the infrastructure to accommodate the increased load.

Designing Sustainable Packages for Dairy Foods

Take a holistic and collaborative approach to packaging design. This approach is about leveraging all of the design-related components early in the new product idea process.

Mike Richmond

April 10, 2012

Over the last five years, there has been more thought and attention given to design and sustainability issues early on in the packaging process. This will become even more important in the future. So it is critical at the beginning of the development process to consider a package’s design, sustainability and end of life.

Flavor trends in Greek yogurt and other cultured dairy foods

April 10, 2012

A trip through a grocer’s dairy case finds Greek yogurt introductions and product extensions. The food is dipped, crunched and frozen. In other cultured dairy product categories, processors either simplify the foods or make them more decadent. No matter the direction, the category is booming.

Prepare Your Plant to Comply with Food Safety Act

Look for some regulations contained in the Food Safety Modernization Act to be released as early as this summer, with more to come by year’s end and into 2013.

Allen Sayler

April 10, 2012

Most dairy industry meetings over the past year have devoted at least one session or agenda item to safety. DMI’s Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy established a Food Safety Committee almost two years ago to evaluate existing food safety tools and develop new ones. One of the main reasons for this focus was the passage in 2010 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Exporting to Mexico is an overnight success, 20 years in the making

Trade with Mexico required a wide range of development activities, including retail and foodservice promotions, regulatory clarifications and trade policy advocacy.

Tom Suber

March 18, 2012

A week or so before Thanksgiving 2011, Mexico became our first billion-dollar overseas market. It was like watching our first-born go through a graduation ceremony — the satisfying reward after years of careful nurturing.