Raw milk microbiome is important to food safety and security. However, understanding the complexities of how the dairy farm environment may affect the microbiome is difficult. Since there are a variety of operating parameters for dairy farmers to use on their farms, each farming environment is unique. What makes the...
Kappa-casein glycomacropeptide (CMP), a 64-amino-acid peptide, is released from kappa-casein after rennet treatment and is one of the major peptides in whey protein isolate (WPI). CMP has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. CMP has two major amino acid sequences with different modifications including glycosylation, phosphorylation and oxidation. However, no previous work...
Mold growth on cheddar-style cheese, though not a food safety issue, causes significant loss to the industry due to consumer rejection. For this reason, it is common for at-risk products, such as cheese shreds, to be coated with the mold inhibitor natamycin. While highly effective at extending shelf-life, preferences for...
Cheese has been produced since ancient times and continues to be an important nutrient-dense staple in many diets around the world. Cheese quality is of high importance to consumers, and it is important for cheese producers to establish process controls to prevent and control cheese spoilage. Fungal spoilage is of...
Lactose intolerance is a common food intolerance that occurs because of a post-weaning deficiency of lactase, an enzyme that cleaves the glyosidic bond of lactose. About 75% of the world's population is lactose intolerant. Common symptoms of lactose intolerance are abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhea. ~25% of the world’s population...
Cheese is a fermented dairy product that is made from animal milk and is considered to be healthy food due to its available nutrients and potential probiotic characteristics. Since the microbes in the cheese matrix directly contribute to the quality and physicochemical properties of cheese, it is important to understand...
Premature birth interrupts the typical development of the human fetus, leaving the infant born with underdeveloped gastrointestinal and immune systems. Preterm infants have reduced stomach acidity, reduced digestive protease activity, more permeable intestinal membranes, impaired innate and adaptive immune response, and poor microbiome development. Due to these factors, preterm infants...
Butter has long been the premium choice for producing pastries such as Danish and croissants. Its inclusion has consistently delivered characteristically light and airy crumbs with beautifully flaky crust. Once considered a delicacy, pastries have now become innocuous in our everyday lives. Once requiring a skillful hand to sculpt and...
Tree nuts have been implicated in a number of foodborne outbreaks and recalls in recent years linked to enteric pathogens, particularly Salmonella. Therefore, prior to distribution and marketing, it is necessary to understand the biological risks associated with the consumption of tree nuts and to find effective methods to inactivate...
Rework is a common practice in the dairy industry as a way for processors to minimize waste while recovering costs for dairy products that are unsaleable. The regulations available for reworking fluid dairy products only outline product eligibility requirements with a focus on repasteurization of the products containing rework as...