ASK THE EXPERTS: Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk – Let’s Minimize Food Waste in Dairy

Welcome to our Ask The Experts Series where we sit down with an IFF technical expert who specializes in helping our customers achieve their goals. Here, we talk with Jerry Erdmann, Principal Scientist, who specializes in Food Protection and collaborates with the Dairy Design Teams to troubleshoot food safety and stability challenges our customers incur during dairy production. Check out the interview below.

Hi Jerry, thanks for joining us! We are excited to dive into our topic today, but first, can you tell us a bit more about you - how did you get into food protection?

While at Iowa State University, I came down with a foodborne illness (salmonellosis), died from complications due to the illness, and was revived. After this experience, my career focus became food microbiology. As I worked through my career, I sought opportunities where I could really grow my knowledge and skills. I have been blessed with many great mentors along the way. And about 19 years ago, I sought out Danisco as the next step in my career path because I thought this would be a great place to leverage my skills to have the largest impact on the food industry. I am intrinsically motivated and have a real passion for food microbiology. This is why I push myself every day to go above and beyond to support our customers with their food safety and quality challenges.

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That is a remarkable story! Can you tell us a bit about the importance of food protection? In particular, let's focus on the fresh dairy category and what challenges producers must face daily?

First, it is important that food safety and quality of fresh dairy products are addressed. Retailers of fresh fermented dairy products are looking for products to stay fresher for longer, with yeast and mold being the biggest challenges. In addition, customers are interested in cleaner label solutions while still maintaining food safety and quality. On top of that, reducing food waste is having the greatest impact on the sustainability footprint of the sector. Food waste accounts for about 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions globally (The Climate & Business Opportunity of Upcycled Food, August, 2023).

That is a significant percentage. Can you speak more about sustainability: what challenges are producers facing in this space?

One of the largest challenges with sustainability is food waste. Reducing food waste is one of the top five environmental concerns voiced by consumers. Yet consumers play a big role in food waste as 53% of all the food that is wasted comes from households (Food Waste, 2020). So, this is a growing concern, right? And there's a lot of dollars associated with food waste. Meaning, it's in everybody's interest that we try to find ways to make food stay fresher, longer.

What can we do to make fresh fermented dairy last longer? How can we help?

You need to keep in mind that antimicrobial solutions are only one part of the overall solution. The beauty of working at IFF is I have dairy experts sitting just a couple of yards away from me, and we can collaborate with the customer to establish steps in the process and product that can reduce the risk of spoilage. We tend to focus on 4 keys areas:

• Raw materials - Customers should understand their raw material and the incoming microbial load.
• Processing - Understanding the processing and where the product could get contaminated. When the solutions are added into the process is also very important.
• Product environment - Good sanitation, air quality, separation of processing area and GMPs (Good Manufacturing Processes) are key.
• Finished product - Understanding your finished product - doing the necessary microbial studies to make sure you are getting the protection and quality that you need.

At IFF, the collaboration between food protection scientists, category experts and the customer works well. I know the food microbiology, the category experts understand dairy and the customer knows their specific product and process.

Can you illustrate with some examples, based on your experience?

Sure! In cottage cheese, for example, we can use a multifunctional ingredient with characteristics properties of a fermented food such as cultured non-fat dry milk (MICROGARD® 100). The metabolites produced during the fermentation process of the MICROGARD® 100 assist with slowing the growth of yeast and mold. Sometimes customers will use our protective culture (HOLDBAC® YM-XTEND and HOLDBAC® YM-SUSTAIN) product line. These cultures are added with the acidifying cultures to generate by-products during the fermentation process that slow the growth of yeast and mold. Depending on how long the customer is looking to extend the product freshness, MICROGARD® and HOLDBAC® YM might be used together. In some cases, CO₂ may also be added by bubbling it through the dressing to reduce the risk of yeast and mold spoilage.

We could do an on-site assessment of the production facility to identify potential areas that could be contributing to the spoilage. For example, we may conduct air quality testing, swabs, observe processing and sanitation, and test spoiled or finished product, to identify the causative agent of the spoilage. In some cases, just observing what is going on inside or outside the facility can lead to a quick resolution to the problem. In one case, a sour cream manufacturer was having a sudden mold issue on their product. They sent us samples of the moldy product, and we were able to identify the mold - a species known to be associated with dead and decaying trees. When I arrived at the facility, there were machines pulling up dead trees, leveling the lot across the street from the facility and kicking up a lot of dust. So, the focus became how to address the air quality in the facility, as a path to find the right solution for the product.

That is great detective work and problem-solving for our customers. But what do we do proactively to help our customers with spoilage? What products can we offer to help?

That's a great question! When it comes to offering our solutions, it all starts with meeting specific customer needs. At IFF, we are well positioned to provide solutions for a wide range of requirements, different products and processes, targeting various spoilage microorganisms.

For instance, if a customer seeks a cost-effective alternative to synthetic preservatives like sorbates and benzoate, we can assist by offering NATAMAX®, naturally occurring antifungals derived from fermentation. These solutions delay yeast and mold spoilage, while due to their exceptional heat stability, they can be seamlessly incorporated into other ingredients before pasteurization. NATAMAX® is particularly applicable to fresh fermented products as it does not inhibit starter cultures.

On the other hand, for customers looking for innovative, label-friendly* solutions to enhance sensory properties and extend product shelf-life, we offer the MICROGARD® portfolio. This product line, which currently includes approximately 18 different items, captures solutions based on various fermented ingredients (like cultured milk, dextrose and more). And once again, we can leverage our experience to assist the customer in selecting the best-suited solution.

For fresh fermented dairy products, we also have the HOLDBAC® YM line of products. You would basically add the HOLDBAC® cultures in with your acidifying cultures. The beauty of using HOLDBAC® YM cultures is that they offer inhibition capabilities against yeast and mold, allowing extension of product freshness and delaying spoilage of finished products. These innovative protective cultures allow manufacturers to create a wider geographical reach for their products, increasing the likelihood of retailer selection, and preventing supply chain waste at a time of unforeseen challenges to the global shipping industry.

Could you tell us what customers value the most about IFF?

There are 3 key areas:

1. Technical support - We leverage our technical expertise and experience to assist in making our customers successful.
2. Collaboration - Our technical experts collaborate with the customer to better understand their products and processes to deliver solutions best-suited to address their food quality and safety challenges.
3. Solutions - We have a broad portfolio of ingredients that can be utilized as part of an overall strategy to addressing the customer's challenges. By combining IFF's shared passion for dairy, expertise in production and integrated solutions, we work hand-in-hand with our customers to bring dairy moments to life and prolong the joy they give us.

Are you having challenges like these in your dairy operation? Contact one of our dairy experts to solve your production challenges today.

*Label-friendly may have different meanings, mostly common associated to the elimination or reduction of E-numbers and chemicals additives.

Sources:

Upcycled Food Association: The Climate & Business Opportunity of Upcycled Food, Aug 2023

Eurostats Statistics, Food Waste, 2020.

This is business-to-business information intended for food and supplement producers, and is not intended for the final consumer. This information is based on our own research and development work and is, to the best of our knowledge, reliable. However, nothing herein shall constitute a guarantee or warranty with respect to products of IFF or its affiliates or information contained herein and IFF does not assume any liability or risk involved in the use of its products or the information contained herein, as conditions of use are beyond our control. Statements concerning possible use of products of IFF or its affiliates are not to be construed as recommendations for any use which would violate any patent rights, regulations or statutory restrictions. Manufacturers should check local regulatory status of any claims according to the intended use of their product.

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