Rapid methods of microbial detection in dairy products

Dairy products are monitored for microbial spoilage to ensure their quality and safety across the supply chain under the recent U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act, including environmental monitoring for pathogens and allergens. Recently, several methods have been developed for rapid monitoring of spoilage microbes and pathogens in dairy products throughout processing, storage and distribution. These new techniques offer a faster, more reliable and comprehensive understanding of the microbial status of food products and are. These novel techniques are often less costly than traditional microbial detection, and provide quick analytical results for perishable foods, often in the form of in-package sensors. In turn, this may open new markets for these products and reduce overhead costs. Other applications have provided quick data on milk quality to help improve quality practices as well as processing efficiency along the supply chain. In this work, we evaluated the effectiveness of a few rapid microbial investigation methods that may replace conventional product quality testing techniques in the dairy industry, along with other recent developments that may address the needs of the dairy industry.