• Early Bird Rate: $465 (May 2 - May 23)  

• Regular Rate: $595 (May 24 - June 27)  

• Late Rate: $695 (June 28 - July 18)  

• On-Site Rate: $695  

Survey of Raw Milk Cheeses Looks for Microbiological Quality and Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens  

Counter Culture Launches in Raleigh: Sign Up Today!

Call for Cheese! SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience in D.C. 

On June 8 and 9, ACS will sample cheese to 4,000 guests at SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience.

SAVOR is a must-attend for craft beer aficionados and foodies alike. Over two nights in Washington, D.C., guests enjoy an elegant sampling of appetizers and craft beers from around the United States.

 

ACS will have a dedicated area at SAVOR for sampling cheeses produced by our members. Interested cheesemakers are asked to provide 5-10 pounds of cheese, along with any informational materials. 

 

If you would like to have ACS sample and promote your products at SAVOR, contact us via email, or call 720-328-2788.

This issue of CheeseBytes comes to you with a focus -- an emphasis on the ever-changing landscape of food safety. ACS strives to stay abreast of timely issues that can impact your business and operations, and we also strive to serve as a leader for our industry, helping you prepare for the changes that none of us can really foretell. To that end, we have added a requested Food Safety Statement for producers to sign when entering the Judging & Competition this year. This is not required in 2012, but may become a requirement in future years. We ask for it this year to get our members ahead of the curve on potential changes to regulatory requirements.

When raw milk is in the news, raw milk cheese often follows. ACS responded to a recent CDC report on raw dairy products, pointing out that the authors created confusion by failing to distinguish between health concerns associated with raw fluid milk and raw milk cheese. Furthermore, ACS noted that the authors inaccurately suggested that it is illegal to sell raw milk cheese in the United States. ACS also issued a Position Statement on the Safety of Raw Milk Cheese which is now available on our website. We hope that being proactive on such issues will ensure that our members' voices are heard.

John Sheehan, FDA's Director of the Division of Plant and Dairy Food Safety, recently spoke at the International Cheese Technology Expo in Milwaukee, WI. Sheehan reported that FDA's inspections found over 20% of cheesemaking facilities had environmental contamination with listeria monocytogenes. He reported that contamination levels were roughly the same in standard and "artisanal" plants. Though this would indicate that the pathogen is ubiquitous, he went on to state that the FDA will follow up with two more rounds of intensive sampling focused on "artisanal" producers and those making soft cheeses. Continuing inspections would include testing for additional pathogens such as e-coli, salmonella, and campylobacter. No reason was given for this additional scrutiny of artisan producers, and no definition was given as to what the FDA considers "artisanal" production.

In light of continued scrutiny, and with the goal of helping cheesemakers adhere to the highest standards of cheesemaking, ACS's Regulatory & Academic Committee is at work compiling Best Practices for Cheesemakers. This document, as well as a related Best Practices for Retailers document, will serve as a resource for the industry to ensure awareness of current regulations and requirements, and to provide tools that can be implemented to meet those requirements.

We hope you will join us in Raleigh this summer for the latest updates and discussions on these important issues at our 29th Annual Conference & Competition, "Cheese Rally in Raleigh: Owning our Future." Mark your calendar: "Early Bird" registration opens May 2!

Christine Hyatt

ACS President

Nora Weiser

ACS Executive Director 

ACS Releases Position Statement on the Safety of Raw Milk Cheese and Responds to Recent CDC Study   

In response to recent media attention around the issue of raw milk cheese safety in the United States, ACS recently released two documents:

• producing cheese in licensed facilities that are routinely inspected on the local, regional, and federal level
• producing cheese under the oversight of licensed dairy handlers
• aging cheese for a minimum of 60 days before it is sold

• taking part in ongoing food safety education
• regularly conducting product and environment testing
• maintaining accurate and up-to-date records
• seeking third party certification
• building relationships with local, regional, and federal inspectors
• adhering to all state and federal regulations and industry standards

Stay Up-to-Date on Best Practices and Food Safety: Watch Exclusive Member Webinars 

Throughout the year, ACS offers our members access to educational webinars on issues of interest to the cheese community. Past webinars have focused largely on issues related to food safety and industry best practices. If you missed any of these webinars, we encourage you to log into the ACS website to view them:  

Retailer Best Practices: Virtual Roundtable

Led by Hans Kunisch from GreenLeaf & Jonathan Richardson from Zuercher & Co. 

Storage Temperatures Necessary to Maintain Cheese Safety

Led by Marianne Smukowski from the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research 

Risk Reduction in Cheesemaking Facilities 

Led by Dr. D.J. D'Amico from the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at UVM

Preparing a HACCP Plan 

Led by Ranee May from Falcon Dairy Food Plant at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls & Marianne Smukowski from the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research  

Food Safety Modernization Act and Product Liability 

Led by Ken Odza from Stoel Rives, LLP

ACS Partners with Industry Organization to Offer In-Depth Sessions on Food Safety, Risk Reduction, and Crisis Management in Raleigh

This summer, ACS and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy are offering two in-depth educational sessions dedicated to food safety, risk reduction, and crisis management in cheesemaking operations. These sessions will kick things off in Raleigh, NC on Wednesday, August 1. You can sign up for these sessions online as part of the conference registration process, which opens May 2 at www.cheesesociety.org.  

Food Safety and Artisan Cheesemaking: Advanced Risk Reduction Practices and Programs (Deep-Dive Session) 

• Wednesday, August 1 from 9 am - 5 pm ($149/person, lunch provided)  
• Led by Dennis "DJ" D'Amico, Ph.D., Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese  

Risk assessment is a technique used to achieve food safety based on the principles of hazard identification, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. Using Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese (VIAC) data collected from microbiological surveillance of farmstead cheesemaking operations, Dr. D'Amico will review specific microbial pathogens of concern to farmstead cheesemakers, and their incidence in milk and the cheesemaking environments.

• Wednesday, August 1 from 1 pm - 5 p.m. ($25/person)
• Led by David Krejci, SVP, Weber Shandwick; Polly O'Grady, VP, Weber Shandwick; and Stacey Stevens, VP, DMI

Food safety is always a hot topic, and knowing how to respond appropriately in an urgent situation is critical! Join panelists from DMI and Weber Shandwick as they lead participants through a mock crisis and provide attendees with the experience and tools they need to effectively communicate in a real-life crisis situation.  

Participants will put the principles of effective communication into practice during a simulated food safety drill. In addition to a tabletop exercise that features a developing scenario, a new social media simulator -- FireBell -- will allow participants to react and respond to messages being posted in "real-time."

The 2012 Judging & Competition is Open!  

The wheels are in motion, and the 2012 ACS Judging & Competition is in full swing -- along with a few exciting changes.

Among those changes is the addition of a new ACS staff member, Steve Binns. As our new Administrative & Marketing Assistant, Steve brings a lot of energy, experience, and enthusiasm to the staff and will be the main staff liaison for all of your Judging & Competition entries.

The 2012 Call for Entries was mailed two weeks ago and should have already landed in your mailbox. While ACS will continue to accept paper entry forms, we'd like to introduce another important change to this year's Judging & Competition: ACS has launched its first-ever online entry system! We strongly encourage our members to use this new online system. Just follow the simple steps below, and remember to start the entry process early, so that you can avoid a last-minute rush or late fees.

Step 1 - Review the following important documents:

• Call for Entries - Producer Information and Guidelines
• Judging & Competition Categories 
• Food Safety Statement

Step 3 - Create a company profile and upload your dairy plant permit or health inspection report. Please note: this system is separate from the ACS member database, and you will need to create a new username and password, rather than using your existing ACS website login. Be sure to keep your new login information handy, so you can easily return to your entries this year and in future years.

Step 4 - Enter your Judging & Competition entries following prompts on the site. 

Step 5 - Submit and pay for your entries.

After you've paid for your entries, you will receive an email confirming that your submission has been received. If you need to make any changes to your entries after you've submitted payment, please call the ACS office at (720) 328-2788.

Please note: The deadline for on-time entries is Friday, May 18. Entries received between May 19 and May 25 will be subject to the late entry fee of $85. No entries will be accepted after May 25.

Judging & Competition packets, which include shipping labels and instructions, unique entry labels, a packing slip, and tips on how to properly ship your cheese, will be mailed to all entrants in the beginning of July. 

This year's committee members, Todd Druhot (Chair), Tom Kooiman (Vice Chair), John Antonelli, Stephanie Clark, John Greeley, David Grotenstein, and Richard and Karen Silverston, have been hard at work with the ACS staff to continue the growth, success, and momentum of the Judging & Competition. 

We look forward to seeing you in Raleigh!

Michelle Lee

ACS Programs & Operations Director

Show Your Support for Cheese!