Niamh Burke

By Niamh Burke, Krzysztof A. Zacharski, Mark Southern, Paul Hogan, Michael P. Ryan and Catherine C. Adley

Sampling and analysis occur along the milk processing train: from collection at farm level, to intake at the diary plant, the processing steps, and the end products. Milk has a short shelf life; however, products such as milk powders have allowed a global industry to be developed. Quality control tests are vital to support activities for hygiene and food standards to meet regulatory and customer demands. Multiples of chemical and microbiological contamination tests are undertaken. Hazard analysis testing strategies are necessary, but some tests may be redundant; it is therefore vital to identify product optimization quality control strategies. The time taken to undergo testing and turnaround time are rarely measured. The dairy industry is a traditional industry with a low margin commodity. Industry 4.0 vision for dairy manufacturing is to introduce the aspects of operational excellence and implementation of information and communications technologies. The dairy industries’ reply to Industry 4.0 is represented predominantly by proactive maintenance and optimization of production and logistical chains, such as robotic milking machines and processing and packaging line automation reinforced by sensors for rapid chemical and microbial analysis with improved and real-time data management. This chapter reviews the processing trains with suggestions for improved optimization.

Part of the book: Descriptive Food Science