The beauty of the Internet is its ability to deliver massive amounts of unedited information. The problem with the Internet is its ability to deliver massive amounts of unedited information.

To assist both dairy companies and users of dairy-based ingredients in their search for accurate and focused dairy research information, Dairy Management Inc., Rosemont, Ill., recently relaunched www.extraordinarydairy.com. “We're building on a great resource to make it even better,” notes Amy Skovsende, DMI's director of technology marketing.

After extensive research into the needs of the dairy community, the site features such desirable attributes as a searchable library; education on evaluating and implementing dairy related research and technology; dairy nutrition data; and information on past and current research projects.

For example, a drop-down menu from the “Dairy Research” button on the home page lists information on cheese, fluid milk, concentrated and dry milk ingredients, whey ingredients, milk/butter, ice cream/frozen desserts, yogurt/cultured products and safety.

Site information extends from brief summaries of research to detailed, hands-on guidance. Here's a sampling.

A growing list of Technology Fact Sheets are found under the homepage's “Library” button. A treatise on “Whey Protein Concentrate in Lowfat Meats” notes that whey protein concentrate solutions can substitute for animal fat on a pound per pound basis in lower-fat (less than 10% fat) meat products produced under standard conditions. “For every 10% of fat removed, 3.3% to 10% water is added together with WPC equal to 10% of the water weight.”

At the same location, a Fact Sheet discusses the ability of carbon dioxide to extend the shelf lives of products such as cottage cheese, HTST pasteurized milk and ice cream mix. It notes that researchers found that “adding CO2 to the cream dressing, and packaging the curds and cream in high-barrier materials” could extend the shelf life of cottage cheese some two to three times.

The “Program Resources” button on the home page provides various lists and links for researchers, operations, product developers and other folks looking for assistance. For example, the Applications Programs section offers helpful contacts for prepared foods manufacturers working with whey, dry milk, cheese or milkfat ingredients. Cheesemakers and scientists at the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (CDR), University of Wisconsin-Madison, provide expertise on topics such as the texture and taste of various cheeses in food. It notes the cheese-making equipment at its pilot facility, types of tests performed on-site at its analytical laboratory, and contact information on the program coordinator.

Additionally, through the site's e-alerts service, viewers can choose to be notified when the website is updated with topics in which they have indicated an interest.

“These changes are significant, but our work isn't done,” says Bill Haines, Ph. D., vice president of business-to-business marketing. “ExtraordinaryDairy.com is ever-evolving, and we're counting on the dairy research community to provide us with input on even more enhancements to the site.” Three new sections, Challenge the Experts, Market Ready Technologies and Market Research, will be introduced shortly.

For more information:
Sharon Gerdes at 800-248-8829 (DMI's Technical Support Hotline)
technicalsupport@extraordinarydairy.com.
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