The Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station

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The Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station

FA M- IN FO

April 2003, No. 454

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Contents:

History 4

Mission and fields of expertise 5

Raw milk, cheese and microorganisms for fermentation 6

Knowledge transfer and consulting for the dairy industry 6

Testing and providing expertise regarding milk and dairy products 7

Organization 7

Archievements and impact of FAM research 7

References 8

Cover picture: Photo FAM Original published in: International Journal of Dairy Technology 56 (1) (2003)

Publishing details Publisher:

FAMSwiss Federal Dairy Research Station Liebefeld

CH-3003 Berne

Telefon +41 (0)31 323 84 18 Fax +41 (0)31 323 82 27 http://www.fam-liebefeld.ch e-mail: info@fam.admin.ch Author:

Max Rüegg Address for queries:

M. Rüegg

e-mail max.rueegg@fam.admin.ch Tel +41 (0)31 323 81 66

Fax +41 (0)31 323 82 27 Layout: Doris Fuhrer Publication frequency

Sever al times yearly at irregular intervals Edition:

April 2003, No. 454 ISSN 1660-2587

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The Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station

Max Rüegg

Swiss Federal Dairy Research Station Liebefeld, CH-3003 Berne

The Federal Dairy Research Station (FAM) was established at the beginning of the last century. It is one of six agricultural research stations of the Swiss Department of Agriculture and the leading national research institute in dairy technology and consulting. It is part of the Swiss Centre of Competence for Animal Production and Foods of Animal Origin. Its mission is to improve the competitive position of the Swiss milk produ- cers and dairy industry. The institute is organized into three functional areas corresponding to its well established core competencies: (1) raw milk cheese and microorganisms for fermentation, (2) knowledge transfer and consulting for the dairy industry and bee-keeping and, (3) testing and expertising of dairy and bee products. Research work is carried out in a multidisciplinary approach in a matrix organization. Two product- and customer-oriented technology units and one unit for consulting, contractual work and other services for the dairy industry are supported in their projects by four scientific and technical units (microbiology; chemistry, physics and sensory analysis; engineering and production) as well as by a unit offering central services. The four-year research programmes are based on the strategic goals of the agricultural policy as well as on the current needs of the dairy industry. An advisory board oversees the preparation and execution of the projects. FAM is connected to an international network both for scientific work and supervisory tasks. Work is carried out within the background of the political strategy of a sustainable development including economic, ecological and social aspects. A primary research focus is therefore avoiding of excessive processing of milk and dairy products and, keeping products natural and free of residues, by applying only minimal, unavoidable treatments and additives.

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History

The history of the Federal Dairy Research Station at Liebefeld-Bern (FAM) is strongly related to the problems and the development of the Swiss dairy industry ^(1,2). The roots go back to the 19th century. After the establishment of the first cheese plants in the Swiss lowland regions in 1815 the cheese production started to rise. The empirical way of making cheese became proble- matic after 1875. The state authorities and the federal government realized the need for supporting the milk produ- cers and cheese-makers with adequate research, supervision and analytical means. Therefore, in 1900 the Swiss federal government established the legal basis for research stations supporting the various branches of agricultural production. In summer 1901 a bacteriological and a chemical laboratory moved into a new building at Liebefeld-Bern. This is considered as founding date of FAM.

Bacteriological problems in bee keeping were the reason for linking an apicultural department to the „Federal Dairy and Bacteriological Station“ at Liebefeld in 1907.

The currently more than 100-year of history of FAM can roughly be divided into three periods, based on changing research needs of the dairy industry as well as on changes in general economic situation. During the first period from the foundation until the second world war the focus of the research and consulting activites was on bacteriological aspects of cheese production. New findings on cheese defects and the introduction of a defided starter culture resulted in a better control of the quality of traditional Swiss cheese vareities. During the second period from about 1938 to 1967 the main objectives were to improve the quality of raw milk. Outbreaks of food born deseases such as tuberculosis and bru- celloses lead to urgent research inves- tigations directed towards hygienic milk production. The behaviour of pathogenic microorganisms during cheese manufac-

turing was also studied. The third period was characterized by the impact of other scientific disciplines leading to multidisciplinary approaches to reseaarch as well as by the technological progress. Pro- ducts other than cheese received more attention in the project portfolio of FAM.

During these three time periods the permanent staff increased from about 25 at the beginning to 106 employees during the seventies. A certain number of non- permanent employees, students and apprentices were always working at FAM.

The increasing size necessitated the construction of new buildings. Pilot plants for cheese and other dairy products were added for studying a broad range of processes used in the dairy industry.

Research was always practice oriented.

An integrated consulting service provided a useful mean for transferring knowledge in both directions - from the practice to the researchers and vice versa.

Today, FAM is one of six agricultural research stations of the Swiss Depart- ment of Agriculture and forms together with its sister research station for animal production at Posieux the Swiss Compe- tence Centre for Animal Production and Foods of Animal Origin. Within this centre the problems can be tackled with a broad scientific approach „from the stable to the table“.

The tasks of the principally government funded federal research stations can be summarised as follows:

• they support farmers in their adaption of production practices which are eco- nomical and respect the environment and animals alike, emphasizing a non industrial type of farming;

• they acquire scientific knowledge and technical foundations for farmers, edu- cation and for extension services as well as for the implementation of laws;

• they develop, provide support and eva- luate political measures, especially in the fields of ecology, integrated production, organic farming, feeding and hus-

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bandry of farm animals in accordance with current requirements;

• they develop scientific basis for the Swiss agricultural policy;

• they perceive agricultural problems requiring medium or long term actions (early detection);

• they fulfill specific tasks as required by the legislation.

With the changing structure of the dairy industry from mainly artisanal production sites to larger industrial plants the collaboration with the practice also had to be adapted. Today FAM offers different types of contractual research work and consulting in order to meet the demands of its customers and co-operating partners.

Mission and fields of expertise The regulation for Agricultural Research defines the mission of FAM with the following keywords ⁽³⁾:

Science Market

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1 Fundamental research 2 Application-oriented research 3 Development

4 Implementation

2 3

long term medium term short term

Research needs

Universities Industry, SME,

Federal Reserach Station

agriculture

Precompetitive area Competitive area

1 Quality of milk and milk products;

2 Technology of milk processing and cultures for fermentation;

3 Coordination of the Swiss Federal Dairy Inspection and Advisory Service including the Swiss National Reference Laboratory for the dairy industry;

4 Bee keeping, health and products of honey bees.

Figure 1 Positioning of FAM activities along the ' R&D chain´.

The activities of the apicultural department will not be outlined in more detail in this article. The major activities can be characterized with the chart shown in Fig. 1.

Another characteristic of FAM is the integrated consulting service for knowledge transfer for both the dairy and the apicultural units. This allows for a direct transfer of research results to most of the customers.

To fulfill its mission FAM has developed core competencies in the following fields.

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Raw milk, cheese and microorganisms for fermentation

Milk is arguably the most important economic factor of Swiss agriculture. A consi- derable quantity of the milk is transferred into traditional hard and semi-hard cheese. About half of the cheese production is exported. An important field of activity is therefore milk and cheese quality. Impor- tant fields of activities within this core competence are scientific knowledge for the production of high quality raw milk cheese, for the control of ripening and flavour, for the production and development of starter cultures, and for risk assessment of raw milk cheese. It is worthwhile to mention that cheese research is carried out in a stepwise fashion from laboratory scale, to pilot plants, to 1:1 trials in experimental plants and eventually in cheese manufacturing plants in practice.

FAM has a large collection of microbial strains that are or could be used in the dairy industry. Research is, however, not limited to traditional cheese varieties.

New technologies, processes, innovative cheese types and cheese analogues are also considered.

Management Controlling, safety, information

human resources, finances Research units and project

management

Scientific and technical support units

Milk and cheese

!" Quality of raw milk

!" Microflora, fermentations

!" Manufacturing, ripening

Dairy products

!" Sustainable technology

!" Functional properties

!" Apiculture¹⁾

Services

!" Quality assurance (MIBD)²⁾

!" Starter cultures

!" Analytical services and

consulting Microbiology

!" Biochemical and microbiological research

!" Microorganisms for fermentations

!" Microbiological analyses

!" Biochemical analyses

Chemistry, Physics and sensory testing

!" Flavour analysis ! Infrared spectrometry

!" Liquid chromatography and statistics ! Physical testing

!" Milk constituents ! Sensory testing

!" Lipids

Engineering, pilot plants and production

!" Pilot plants and engineering

!" Production of starter cultures

!" External experimental cheese plants

!" Technical and logistic service

Central services

!" Secretariat

!" IT

!" Documentation

1) Swiss Bee Research Centre; ²⁾ MIBD: Coordination centre of the Swiss Federal Dairy Inspection and Advisory Service

Figure 2 FAM matrix organization for multidisciplinary research and consulting.

Knowledge transfer and consulting for the dairy industry

A primary research activity is focused on careful processing of milk and dairy products. Primary objectives in this type of research are keeping the products natural and free of residues, and applying only minimal, unavoidable treatments and additives. This focus not only leads to natural products but is also of interest from an economic point of view. In a similar orientation, knowledge has been acquired for the use of milk compounds as natural functional additives to other foodstuff to improve functional and nut- ritional product properties. A modern infrastructure with a variety of pilot plants and analytical instruments allows FAM to tackle problems arising in the dairy industry. Besides regular training and advice to cheese inspectors, dairy inspectors and consultants for milking procedures, FAM is also in charge of supervision of can- tonal and regional dairy inspection and advisory services and payment schemes based on milk quality.

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Fig. 3 Quality of Swiss ex-farm: % top-quality samples

70 75 80 85 90 95 100

'74 '76 '78 '80 '82 '84 '86 '88 '90 '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 Year

%

0

Bacterial counts

< 200'000 imp./mL or < 80'000 cfu/mL

Somatic cell counts

< 350'000/mL

or negative NaOH test

Figure 3

Quality of Swiss ex-farm milk:

% top-quality samples

Testing and providing expertise regar- ding milk and dairy products

FAM is performing contractual work with the industry in its fields of competence.

The analytical work is performed in accredited testing laboratories and the pilot plant studies in ISO-certified plants.

FAM was a pioneer in the accreditation of microbiological and sensory laboratories.

Development o and consulting in various aspecs of quality and environmental management systems for dairy plants has a tradition. The Swiss reference laboratory for milk and dairy product analysis is an integral part of the institute. FAM is not just measuring and reporting analytical parameters alone but tries to deliver results with an interpretation and advice for the customer. A consulting service for the ISO certification of dairy plants is associated with the institute.

Organization

The new organizational structure reflects the institute’s strategy of a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving: a

new matrix organization links together food technologists and scientists with a background in natural sciences (microbiology, chemistry, physics, nutrition etc.) as the basis for problem solving (Fig. 2).

Project teams are formed with members from the various organization units and in most cases with representatives of the customers to support the interdisciplinary approach. Projects are being conduc- ted within 4-year research programmes that are published and available on-line (www.sar.admin.ch).

Achievements and impact of FAM research

Some major impacts of FAM research and consulting during the past decades include the increased quality of Swiss raw milk and cheeses manufactured from the raw milk: Fig. 3 and 4 show the impressive increase of the highest grade ex farm milk the increase of the amount of the highest grade Emmentaler cheese as judged by professional experts, respectively.

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Other recent accomplishments are the development of various starters and surface ripening cultures, most of them suitable for organic products. FAM was the first institute to provide starter cultures carrying a label for organic dairy products. Research on thermal treatments of milk lead to a decrease of pasteurization temperatures in the dairy industry and an increase in sensory and keeping quality.

Research on the influence of feeding and production systems on the composition and quality of milk and milk products revealed interesting findings on nutritio- nal and flavour compounds.

In its function as national reference laboratory, FAM provides reference materials for milk and cheese analysis and orga- nizes collaborative and proficiency tests.

Significant contributions have been made regarding the establishment and mainta- nance of quality management systems in the dairy industry. FAM also contributes to public awarness of the benefits and risks of milk and dairy products through

risk assessment schemes, publications and collaboration with national and international institutions. Since the launch of the first COST 90 action in1980, FAM has participated in many European research programmes. As laboratory from a non- member state it has had a formative influence in European projects on physical properties of foods, thermal treatments of milk and instrumental and sensory cha- racterization of cheese.

Future work will continue to be carried out on the background of the political strategy of a sustainable development including economic, ecological and social aspects, taking into account the current needs of the dairy industry.

References

1 Poffet J R (2001) Hundert Jahre For- schung an der FAM und der RAP.

Agrarforschung 8 443-445.

2 Sieber R, Rüegg M (2002) 100 Jahre Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Milchwirtschaft. FAM-Info Nr. 441 [available as PDF-document] URL http://www.fam-liebefeld.ch. ISBN 3- 905667-01-0

3 Verordnung vom 8. November 1995 über die landwirtschaftliche For- schung (VLF) [decree of the Swiss government published also as WWW document] URL http://www.admin.ch/

ch/d/sr/c426_10.html.

Keywords: Dairy products, History, Mini- mal processing, Organic food, Raw milk cheese, Swiss dairy research

Fig 4 Increase in the percentage of top-grade Swiss Emmental cheese since 1950 (average values over 10 years except for 2000)

97.6

53.5

0 20 40 60 80 100

0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5

Years

Top grade cheese, %

'50-'59 '60-'69 '70-'79 '80-'89 '90-'99 '00

Figure 4

Increase in the percentage of top-grade Swiss Emmental cheese since 1950 (average values over 10 years except for 2000)