Fluid dairy product quality and safety: looking to the future.

The fiercely competitive nature of the US beverage industry will drive the fluid milk sector of the dairy industry to improve product quality and shelf life to enable dairy beverages to compete with innovative new introductions as well as with currently popular shelf-stable products. The recent substantial growth in the volume of flavored milk sales specifically suggests that attention is needed to improve these products. Further, increasing public awareness and regulatory attention directed toward food safety issues highlight the need for the dairy industry to proactively address and eliminate emerging food safety issues that may negatively impact the image of dairy products. Shelf life and sensory profiles of high temperature short time pasteurized fluid milk products are presented, illustrating the need for greater attention to controlling contaminating microorganisms in processed fluid milk products. Bacterial spoilage patterns of flavored versus unflavored milks are compared, and suggestions are presented for extending flavored product shelf lives. Strategies currently applied to extend shelf life are reviewed. Food safety issues facing the dairy industry are presented within the context of an overview of foodborne illnesses in the United States. The pressing need to determine thermal resistance characteristics of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis is described.