Upstate Niagara Cooperative in Buffalo, N.Y., has been named the 2014 “Best Milk” processor by Cornell University’s New York State Milk Quality Improvement Program. Upstate Niagara Cooperative scored a 99.4 out of a possible score of 100 to win the coveted award.
The awards were announced Aug. 25 at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, N.Y.Battenkill Valley Creamery of Salem, N.Y. took second place with a score of 99.2.
The award is part of New York state’s Milk Quality Improvement Program, which began in 1972. Since the awards program started 1997, the Milk Quality Improvement program has selected the winners of the top quality fluid-milk products in New York state.
The program is funded through dairy farmer checkoff dollars, conducted at Cornell, and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Program officials visit all participating fluid milk-processing plants twice a year and collect fluid-milk samples for analysis.
The collected milk samples are analyzed when they are received and again 14 days later, near the end of the sell-by date. Microbiological and chemical tests are performed, and trained sensory panelists taste each sample and score it for flavor and odor. Cornell food science experts run the analytical tests, judging such criteria as butterfat content and post-pasteurization bacteria counts within the milk's sell-by date. PD
—From Cornell University news release
