Big Cheese Data - Fully automatic online 3D NIRS measurement of Cheese production quality

Online quality control of produced cheeses will allow the industry to set new standards for reuse of quality water in the dairies. Reusing the water extracted from the production will lead to large savings both economically and environmentally. The project aims to provide a tool that allows the individual dairy to reduce intake of clean tap water and drastically reduce the amount of water being discharged as waste.

The dairy industry in DK is famous for its cheeses. In 2015, the dairies produced 392,000 tons of cheese, of which 85% was exported. The importance of quality control is paramount, and the industry seeks to move from laboratory-based at-line single batch measurements to 100% online quality control of all cheeses. Online quality control of the produced cheeses will allow the industry to set new standards for reuse of quality water in the dairies. The dairies can expect large savings both economically and environmentally by reusing water extracted from the production, which is currently otherwise discharged as waste.

100% online quality control of the cheese production is, however, a challenging task due to the cheese size and shape, and heterogeneity and quality gradients. In QC-CREW, a technology is demonstrated where near-infrared spatially resolved spectroscopy is used for online quality control of the cheeses. The new automated technology will be used to demonstrate how re-used water affects the cheese quality and how it can be managed and controlled. The outcome of the project is to provide a tool that allows the individual dairy to reduce intake of clean tap water and drastically reduce the amount of water being discharged as waste.

 

 

 

 

 

Funded by:

Project: Big Cheese Data - Fully automatic online 3D NIRS measurement of Cheese production quality
Period:  1st of January 2018 - 31st of December 2020
Grant donor: Danish Dairy Research Foundation, Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark and Danish Agricultural Agency
FOOD grant: DKK 4,025,000
Total grant: DKK 4,025,000
Total budget: DKK 4,545,000

Contact

Picture of Klavs Martin SørensenKlavs Martin Sørensen
Associate Professor
Food Analytics and Biotechnology