Oct. 25, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Philip Tong
(805) 756-6102
Cal Poly Professor Awarded $150,000 to Study Dairy Product Quality, Shelf Life
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly’s Dairy Products Technology
Center and
Professor Phil Tong have received a $150,000 grant from the California
State University Agricultural Research Initiative for a study aimed
at
helping dairy processors improve their ability to produce dairy
foods
and beverages with a longer shelf life.
Tong and the DPTC research team will be looking at dairy food processing
techniques and how they interact to produce high or poor quality
and
shelf life in the end product.
One key to producing a wider variety of high-quality dairy foods
and
beverages with a longer shelf life is to ensure that dairy ingredients
remain stable during the food processing stage, Tong believes.
“In some cases, poor heat stability results in protein precipitation
and
the breakdown of fat emulsion. These changes cause undesirable flavor,
texture, and appearance in the final product. Understanding this
instability will allow us to then identify process conditions and
other
ingredient innovations which can insure high product quality,”
he said.
The $150,000 ARI grant was matched with $150,000 awarded previously
by
the dairy industry. The earlier grant allowed Tong to obtain the
processing equipment needed to conduct the research project.
“By funding Dr. Tong’s project, the state is actually
receiving two
dollars of research value for every state dollar it invested,”
says
Associate Dean Mark Shelton of the Cal Poly College of Agriculture.
"For Cal Poly, this grant also means our students will get
exposed to
working on a real-world project that will likely impact the foods
we
will shop for in the near future,” Tong said.
The research will benefit both dairy producers and the dairy food
processing industry, according to the professor. “Successful
completion
of this project will encourage both dairy producers and food processors
to use enhanced shelf life technologies in more innovative food
product
development,” he explained.
The research project findings should develop more value-added uses
for
dairy producers’ milk and milk products, and more effective
strategies
enabling dairy foods processors to produce products with the convenience
and variety demanded by today’s consumers, Tong said.
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For further information contact Laurie Jacobson (805) 756-6097,
ljacobso@calpoly.edu.
The Dairy Products Technology Center (DPTC),
established in 1986, is a program within the College of Agriculture
at
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The DPTC
conducts education, research and outreach activities to provide
solutions to help manage risk, facilitate innovation, and defend
equity
in the dairy foods industry and related business sectors. Visit
the DPTC
website at www.calpoly.edu/~dptc
.