Taste of Maine Event in DC

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On Tuesday, April 23rd I attended the inaugural “Taste of Maine” event hosted by Maine’s Senate delegation: Susan Collins, and Angus King. I brought with me 14 pounds of Maine cheese from 14 different cheese makers to show how diversified and delicious the award winning cheeses of Maine can be.

Former State veterinarian Don Hoenig, who is currently serving a fellowship in Washington, DC, encouraged the Guild to get involved, and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce organized the event, which went off without a hitch. It took place in the Kennedy Caucus Room on the third floor of the Russell Senate Office Building across the street from the Capitol. The beautiful room, and the abundance of good Maine food, made for a very successful event.

The Maine Senators address the Taste of Maine attendees

UMaine Dairy Sanitation Workshop

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May 16, 2013 – 8:00am-5:00pm

Nutting Hall, Room 204 – University of Maine, Orono campus (links for directions and a campus map).

Lunch is included and coffee and snacks in the morning.

Space is limited to the first 30 people. Cost for Guild Members: $30.00 / Non-Guild Members: $60.00

This workshop will cover an overview of sanitation topics such as bacterial pathogens related to dairy products, milking/milk room sanitation, as well as facility sanitation. Ronda Stone from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry will also talk about sanitation from an inspector’s perspective. Other special guests will include Sarah Spring, Spring Day Creamery who will discuss her own recent sanitation issues and how she overcame them. We will also have hands-on activities in the Pilot Plant to take the theory we learned and put it to practice.

For more information about this 1 day training and how to register, please visit this web site: http://umaine.edu/food-health/food-safety/dairy-sanitation-workshop/.
Due to the hands-on activities, we have to limit the attendance to 30 people.

Please contact
–Beth Calder (581-2791 or beth.calder@maine.edu) if you have questions in regards to the workshop.
–Melissa Libby if you have registration questions at 1-800-287-7170 or Melissa.Libby1@maine.edu.

What Does Licensing Mean?

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In Maine, being licensed by the Department of Agriculture to process dairy products — from fluid milk to cheese and butter and ice cream — means that a Dairy Inspector has toured a producers facility and approved their space, equipment, and process as meeting State and Federal regulations for the products that they wish to sell to the public.

In addition, among other services the Department of Agriculture provides to licensed dairy processors there are:

  • one inspection annually by a dairy inspector where the dairy processor works with the inspector to address any concerns, as well as to solicit advice from the inspector about new processes or products;
  • two water tests to insure that coliform (as an indication of possible bacterial contamination) is not found in the water supply used to produce product and wash equipment;
  • ten (10) product tests are provided each year for samples picked up by the dairy inspector and processed by the Maine Dairy Lab in Augusta.

If sent to a commercial laboratory each of the water and/or product tests provided to the licensed dairy processor can cost between $30 and $50. Dairy consulting visits (the equivalent of a dairy inspection) can cost $500 to $1000 a day plus travel expenses.

Currently, in Maine, a dairy processing license will cost $25 at the lowest product volume level.

In practice, the dairy inspector is working for the licensed dairy processor, and if issues are detected during routine testing the dairy processor is not left alone to address them. The inspectors are committed to helping the dairy processor solve the problem(s) using any and all resources available in the public and private sector, to insure that Maine consumers will have the best quality dairy products available to them.