UMaine Cooperative Extension to Offer Cheese-making Safety Session
Contact: Melissa Potts, (800) 287-7170 or (207) 581-2788; Aimee Dolloff, (207) 581-3777
ORONO, Maine – Recognizing that it’s crucial to be aware of proper sanitation practices and ensuring the safety of Maine artisan cheese, University of Maine Cooperative Extension is helping the Maine Cheese Guild by promoting food safety awareness, proper sanitation practices and an introduction to incorporating food safety plans at their farm and/or cheesmaking facilities.
UMaine Cooperative Extension will offer a sanitation training and introduction to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) for cheese makers on Monday, May 11, at Buchanan Alumni House on the Orono campus.
The program is free for Maine Cheese Guild Members, and $10 for non-members. Lunch will be provided.
The schedule for the day is as follows:
-10 a.m. Registration
-10:30a.m. Beth Calder, Extension food science specialist: Bacteria, bacterial growth and food safety.
-11:15a.m. Gary Anderson, Extension animal and bio-sciences specialist: Farm and milk room sanitation, cleaning equipment, recommended water temperatures, appropriate cleaning/sanitizing products and how to use them, quality testing and thoughts from a dairy inspector’s perspective.
-12:30 p.m. lunch
-1:15 p.m. Anderson’s presentation continued.
-1:45 p.m. Barbara Brooks of Seal Cove Farm in Lamoine: Sanitation from the farm/cheese processing perspective; what has worked for her and problems she has encountered and what she has done to correct the situation.
-2:30 p.m. Calder: Recommended cleaners/sanitizers for the cheese room and U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendations at what level to use the products.
-3 p.m. Calder: Brief description of HACCP principles and how to incorporate HACCP into your cheese-making process along with worksheets to take home.
– 4 p.m. Questions & answers.
To register, call Melissa Potts at (800) 287-7170 or e-mail mpotts@umext.maine.edu.
The event is limited to 30 people. Registration will close when all spaces have been filled. Directions to campus are available at www.umaine.edu/locator.