Dublin played host to the International Dairy Federation (IDF) conference for the first time last month. The conference brought together hundreds of international participants along with more than 90 expert speakers from around the world to discuss the latest developments in dairy research. The conference featured two parallel symposiums: the Concentrated and Dried Milk Products Symposium, and the Cheese Science and Technology Symposium.
Having the two symposiums in the same city at the same time was another first. "They had a separate existence up until 2012 when they came into line with each other," says Dr Phil Kelly of Teagasc, who is also secretary of the Irish National Committee of International Dairy Federation. "They were normally held in different years but when they came into line in 2012 we decided that it presented a worthwhile opportunity to bid to host the two in Dublin in 2016."
One of the benefits of holding a prestigious event such as this was the opportunity it offered to highlight the quality of the people in the Irish research sector as well as the world class research being carried out in dairy and food technologies in this country.
"We wanted to demonstrate how dynamic Ireland is and how this country is up to speed with international developments with excellent research work being done not only by Teagasc but also by third-level institutions such as UCC and UCD."
Keynote speakers over the three days addressed issues such as international standards in infant milk formula production. Of particular interest to the Irish industry was a discussion on a concern which has arisen in the vitally important Chinese market.
Technical barrier
“One of the things that presented a technical barrier to infant formula exports to the Chinese market recently was the measurement of the whey protein content in the powder,” Kelly says. “By the time the manufacturing process is finished, standard measurement methods show less whey protein than there was at the beginning.
“The Chinese were saying the product was off-spec and the industry is looking at measurement methods that will show the full amount of whey protein actually present.
"It was very good to be able to make our own industry aware of something of this nature. Otherwise the discussions will all take place in Chicago or Beijing where we won't have any influence."
Sustainability was another key theme. Research into energy efficiency technologies and applications was presented at the conference. Among these was the use of membrane separation technology to separate the water content of milk from the proteins, whey and minerals. “The concept has potential for the pre-concentration of milk on farms,” says Kelly.
This would have the effect of reducing the volume of milk to be collected and transported to processing plants thus reducing costs and energy overheads. “This has been looked at in the past and is being successfully used on large-scale dairy farms in the US.
"The Danish industry has revisited the subject in recent times. In the US it was seen as only suitable for farms with 1,000 cows but in Denmark they have got this down to 500 cows. This is making the technology more accessible."
A further innovation in this area is the method by which the milk is passed through the membrane. The standard method is reverse osmosis which consumes relatively large amounts of energy. A new method known as forward osmosis was discussed at the conference.
“Reverse osmosis requires pressures of 20 to 30 Bar where as the emerging technology of forward osmosis uses a special solution to draw the water out of the milk at much lower pressures,” Kelly says. “This enables considerable cost reductions in the production of milk concentrates.”
Drying is a critical part of dairy processing and efficiency is all important. "There is a lot of research being done on understanding drying at the droplet level," says Kelly. "When atomised droplets are sprayed each one transitions into a powder particle. Understanding what happens at that level has an impact on how well driers perform. If particles are too sticky it affects the quality of the product. We had some very interesting speakers from France and Australia on this area.
"We also heard speakers from the New Zealand industry on the development of algorithms to control the very fast moving driers they use out there," he adds.
The cheese symposium had a lot to offer the Irish industry as well including new tools for the early identification of product defects. “The exploitation of new diagnostic tools to characterise cheese during refining was examined. Approaches to investigate microbial defects during ripening developed by Teagasc were also looked at.”
Also featured was the latest research on the use of simulated gastric digestion of the matrix that defines cheese and the potential for even greater health benefits arising from its consumption.
Cheese challenges
Finally, a unique project presented by Teagasc was CheeseBoard 2015. This major inter-institutional all-island research project was coordinated by Teagasc and involved University College Cork, the University of Limerick and University College Dublin along with the Agri-Food Biosciences Institute of Northern Ireland, and addressed a series of objectives and challenges in cheese research that are deemed critical for the future development of this food industry sector.
“CheeseBoard2015 addressed a number of different tasks in consultation with the dairy industry,” says Kelly. “These included developing cheeses with reduced salt and fat content but with improved texture and flavour; the innovative development of new cheese varieties; improvements to the nutritional value of cheese; the effects of adding vitamin D to cheese; and the development of techniques to distinguish between industrial and natural trans-fatty acids in cheese in foods.
“The project is providing an integrated approach to challenges in cheese research that are critical for the future development of the food industry in Ireland.”