Technical Articles
How much dairy should we consume?
By John Lucey
Cheese Market News | September 2024
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal asked this question, “How much cheese should you eat?” This certainly isn’t the first article to question the role of dairy in a healthy lifestyle.
ViewIngredient and product innovation in the dairy industry
By Sonali Raghunath, Pratishtha Verma
Dairy Foods | August 2024
Consumer preferences have had a major influence on the development of new products as they are willing to pay for the value of their food. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, foods that promote immunity and healthy aging have also become increasingly popular among consumers. As a result, the focus shifted to innovating new products that enhance value by providing nutrition and other healthy ingredients. Additionally, there has been an ongoing trend of sustainable products showing the need for green consumption practices across generations and the growing awareness of environmental issues.
ViewThe possibilities are endless with mixed milk cheeses
By John Lucey
Dairy Foods | August 2024
As the name implies, mixed milk cheeses are produced by blending any combination of cow, sheep, and/or goat milk. These cheeses provide an opportunity for cheesemakers to produce products with unique flavor profiles. Mixed milk cheeses may also be more palatable for consumers who may not want the full flavor (or cost) of sheep or goat’s milk cheeses. Use of cow’s milk in a mixed milk cheese can also be helpful if there is only a limited availability of sheep or goat’s milk.
ViewSolutions to common challenges with 640-pound cheese blocks and barrels
By John Lucey
Dairy Foods | April 2024
In the 1970s, some companies began producing cheese in large 640-pound blocks to reduce handling and packaging costs. Before then, the largest format that cheese companies were routinely producing were 40-pound blocks, but when these are sent to the converter, they require manual handling to remove the packaging from each of the blocks and have more trim losses when converted into exact weight retail chunks or bars. Yet, 640s provide a more economical and efficient solution for manufacturers and converters.
ViewRaw milk consumption continues to pose serious food safety risks
By John Lucey
Cheese Market News | April 2024
It’s very surprising to me that many states across the U.S. have, in recent years, passed legislation to allow for greater access and sales of raw fluid milk. Consumption of raw fluid milk is a food safety risk due to routine (unintended) contamination of milk with pathogens that are commonplace in the farm environment.
ViewCheese judging versus grading in cheese competitions
By John Lucey
Dairy Foods Magazine | January 2024
Cheese judging and grading are important activities performed by the cheese industry, but both play very different roles.
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