Chapters authored
The Dairy Industry: Process, Monitoring, Standards, and Quality
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
Optimising the Quality Management System in Dairy Processing
Milk has a solid reputation as a staple food since time immemorial. It is a complete food in its raw form, high in fat, protein, vitamins and minerals, including calcium. While the most beneficial first food for mammals is mammalian milk until weaning, cow’s milk and dairy derivatives are considered significant nutritional components in the human diet. While milk consumption has in fact sharply declined in recent decades, the consumption of liquid milk derivatives and dairy products has steadily increased. Quality in terms of product, process and the environment in a milk production plant can be measured through performance, reliability and durability. The quality management system, in whatever form that may take within a plant, is the pinnacle in ensuring how one organisation can differentiate from its competitors. Quality systems and analytical testing protocols, especially in the dairy industry, are seldom quantified or fine-tuned to guarantee their efficiency. Furthermore, the impacts of quality systems on process, product, and environmental optimisation are frequently overlooked. This chapter reviews the activities that allow for the optimisation of quality systems in a dairy processing environment. The outcomes of which highlight the importance of process based quality systems.
Part of the book: Quality Control and Quality Assurance