ADSA Foundation Scholar Award - Fluid dairy product quality and safety: Looking to the future

The fiercely competitive nature of the US beverage industry will drive the fluid milk sector of the dairy industry to improve product quality and shel f life to enable dairy beverages to compete with innovative new introductio ns as well as with currently popular shelf-stable products. The recent subs tantial growth in the volume of flavored milk sales specifically suggests t hat attention is needed to improve these products. Further, increasing publ ic awareness and regulatory attention directed toward food safety issues hi ghlight the need for the dairy industry to proactively address and eliminat e emerging food safety issues that may negatively impact the image of dairy products. Shelf life and sensory profiles of high temperature short time p asteurized fluid milk products are presented, illustrating the need for gre ater attention to controlling contaminating microorganisms in processed flu id milk products. Bacterial spoilage patterns of flavored versus unflavored milks are compared, and suggestions are presented for extending flavored p roduct shelf lives. Strategies currently applied to extend shelf life are r eviewed. Food safety issues facing the dairy industry are presented within the context of an overview of foodborne illnesses in the United States. The pressing need to determine thermal resistance characteristics of Mycobacte rium paratuberculosis is described.