Dairy Sanitation Workshop May 16th

umcoopextThe Maine Cheese Guild will sponsor a Dairy Sanitation Workshop to be given by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Orono on May 16th. This year it will — for the first time — include a demonstration session of cleaning and sanitizing procedures using dairy production and processing equipment.

This is an all-day workshop, but will include a catered lunch.

May 16, 2013 – 8:00am-5:00pm

Nutting Hall, Room 204 – University of Maine, Orono campus

For directions and a campus map, please visit these web sites:

http://umaine.edu/about/driving-directions/

http://www.umaine.edu/locator/home-2/display-building/?id=261

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.

An online registration web site link will be posted on the Maine Cheese Guild web site in the next few weeks.

A detailed agenda will soon follow. Thanks and if you have any questions, please contact Beth Calder at UMCE.

Cheese HAACP Training Offered in VT

The Vermont Cheese Council will hold a two day Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) training for cheesemakers and cheesemaking operations.

Dates: Wednesdays, October 6 and 13, 2010
Time: 9:30am-4pm
Location: Provisions International, 42 North Main Street in White River Junction
Cost: $100 ($50/day)
To register: email Rachel Fritz Schaal or call 866.261.8595

Participants will:
Develop a HACCP plan from milk though packaged cheese
Conduct a hazard analysis
Identify Critical Control Points (CCPs) and set critical limits
Monitor CCPs and establish appropriate corrective actions
Validate your CCPs and verify your HACCP plan
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Sanitation Products Training?

From Beth Calder:

“I am in contact with our Ecolab rep. His name is Mike Travers. He is really hard to get a hold of, but he is interested in helping the Cheese Guild with further trainings in the future if members are interested. I would recommend that this be held at a site off-campus since it is a conflict of interest for UMaine to endorse a certain company, but he could help people further with questions regarding detergents versus sanitizers, and whether he has products that are approved for organic use. We could discuss this at the next meeting and see if anyone is interested. ”

Would anyone be interested in further sanitation training like this?