O Bacillus cereus é um patógeno amplamente distribuído na natureza, relacionado a intoxicações alimentares e causador da coagulação doce do leite. A intoxicação pode ocorrer após a ingestão de alimentos nos quais a bactéria produziu a toxina. Em laticínios, o B. cereus é problemático por sua habilidade de formar esporos resistentes ao calor e sobreviver aos tratamentos térmicos, como a pasteurização e UHT. As espécies de Bacillus são freqüentemente isoladas de leite pasteurizado e UHT e evidências indicam que os biofilmes formados nas superfícies dos equipamentos de processamento são uma das principais fontes de contaminação. No biofilme, as células ou esporos aderidos, têm aumentada sua resistência e podem resistir ao processo de sanificação, se tornando focos de disseminação de bactérias no processo. A matriz polimérica do biofilme reage e neutraliza os agentes sanificantes, expondo as bactérias em seu interior a doses subletais, podendo levar a aquisição de resistência. Neste estudo, biofilmes de células vegetativas B. cereus foram desenvolvidos na superfície de aço inoxidável, tipo 304, com filme de condicionamento de leite. A adesão média das células foi de 1,4 x 105UFC/cm2. Também foram desenvolvidos biofilmes de esporos, com adesão média em aço inoxidável de 1,4 x 104UFC/cm2. Foi avaliada a resistência das células vegetativas e esporos de B. cereus em biofilmes, ao processo simulado de higienização por clean in place (CIP) realizado em laticínios. Após a limpeza a adesão das células vegetativas em aço inoxidável foi reduzida a aproximadamente 1CFU/cm2. Após a sanificação, os resultados permaneceram inalterados. A contaminação remanescente foi relacionada com a maior resistência das células nos biofilmes formados. Após a limpeza e sanificação a adesão média dos esporos foi de 8,9 x 101 UFC/cm2 e 3,3 x 101 UFC/cm2, respectivamente. Tendo em vista este resultado, foi observado que esporos de B. cereus são mais difíceis de remover de superfícies de aço inoxidável do que células vegetativas, com procedimentos CIP. Finalmente, foi realizada a exposição de células vegetativas de B. cereus a três concentrações subletais (3,9; 1,8 e 0,9µg/mL) de cloreto de alquil amidopropil dimetil benzil amônio para avaliação da adaptação pelo método da concentração inibitória mínima (CIM). A aquisição de resistência foi avaliada pela comparação do valor inicial de CIM (7,4µg/mL), com os valores finais, após 28 dias de exposição. Após o período de adaptação, o valor de CIM encontrado foi o dobro do original (14,9µg/mL) indicando aquisição de resistência ao sanificante pela cepa. Foi constatado ainda que o cultivo da cepa na menor concentração subletal apresentou resultados mais coerentes, sugerindo que exposição a doses subletais mais brandas resulta em uma maior resposta adaptativa. / Bacillus cereus is a pathogen widely distributed in the environment and a serious problem in the dairy industry because of its ability to form heat-resistant spores that can survive pasteurization and UHT treatments. This bacteria is responsible for foodborne diseases in man due to production of toxins that may cause gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and vomiting. In addition, B. cereus is responsible for spoilage of pasteurized milk and cream referred to as \"sweet curdling\". Bacillus strains are frequently isolated from pasteurized and UHT treated milk and evidence indicates that biofilm formed on processing equipment surfaces are major sources of milk contamination. In biofilms, adherent cells and spores acquire increased resistance and persist to the sanitization process, becoming sources of bacteria dissemination in food processing. The extracellular polymeric matrix neutralizes the sanitizing agents and exposing the bacteria in biofilms to sublethal concentrations can lead to an increased resistance. In this study, biofilms of B. cereus vegetative cells were developed in a 304 stainless steel (SS) surface with a milk conditioning film. The mean adhesion of cells on SS surface was 1.4 x 105CFU/cm2. Biofilms of B. cereus spores were also developed, and the mean adhesion found was 1.4 x 104CFU/cm2. The resistance of B. cereus vegetative cells and spores in biofilms to a simulated clean-in-place (CIP) procedure used in dairy industry was evaluated. After cleaning procedure, the population of vegetative cells in the SS surface was reduced to approximated 1 CFU/cm2. After sanitizing procedure, the cell count remained unaltered. The remaining contamination was related with the increased resistance of cells in the developed biofilms. After cleaning and sanitizing procedures, the mean of spore adhesion found was 8.9 x 101 CFU/cm2 and 3.3 x 101 CFU/cm2, respectively. These results show that B. cereus spores are more difficult to remove from SS surfaces than vegetative cells using CIP procedures. Finally, B. cereus vegetative cells were exposed to three different sublethal concentrations (3.9; 1.8 and 0.9µg/mL) of alkyl amidopropyl dimethyl benzyl ammoniun cloride, for evaluation of adaptation, using the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) test. The acquired resistance was evaluated by comparing the initial MIC value (7.4µg/mL) with final MICs, after 28 days of exposure. After the adaptation period, with exception of an experiment where the MIC was threefold the original value (29.8µg/mL), in the other experiments the MICs found was double (14.9µg/mL) of the original MIC, indicating acquisition of resistance by the B. cereus strain. It was observed that the growth of cells in the mildest sublethal concentration (0.9µg/mL) resulted in more consistent effects, suggesting that the exposure to mildest sublethal concentrations results in higher adaptive responses.

A adulteração do leite é uma prática comum e que preocupa as agências reguladoras, indústrias e a população. Apesar da crescente necessidade de identificação desse tipo de fraude, os métodos empregados geralmente possuem baixo rendimento analítico e alta dependência de mão-de-obra. Sendo assim, objetivou-se desenvolver calibração e validação para monitoramento de adulteração em leite cru, utilizando equipamento compacto (MilkoScan FT1), que adota a espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR). Ademais, objetivou-se comparar a acurácia na detecção de adulterantes do método de FTIR com os testes físico-químicos tradicionais adotados pela indústria no controle de qualidade do leite. Para isso, cerca de 2500 amostras de leite foram utilizadas para construção do espectro de referência e 1625 amostras foram empregadas para validar a identificação de cinco dos principais adulterantes (em três diferentes concentrações cada) encontrados em leite: (1) amido de milho; (2) bicarbonato de sódio; (3) citrato de sódio; (4) formaldeído; (5) sacarose, além da adição de dois níveis de água ou soro de leite. Após esta etapa, 650 amostras foram preparadas para comparação dos métodos, utilizando os mesmos adulterantes nas mesmas concentrações da etapa anterior. Os resultados demonstraram que as calibrações desenvolvidas expressaram boa capacidade geral de detecção de adulteração, apresentando excelente sensibilidade (84%) e especificidade (100%), principalmente quando comparadas com os testes tradicionais, visto que o método de FTIR apresentou capacidade de identificação de adulterantes em leite cru superior aos métodos físico-químicos tradicionais, podendo ser utilizado diretamente nas plataformas de recepção do leite nos laticínios, melhorando os processos industriais de detecção de adulterantes. / Milk adulteration is a common practice that concerns regulatory agencies, industry and the population. Despite the growing need for the identification of this type of fraud, the methods employed generally present low performance and high dependency on hand labor. Therefore, this study aimed to calibrate and validate a compact equipment (MilkoScan FT1) that adopts a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to monitor adulteration in raw milk. Furthermore, this study aimed to compare the accuracy in adulterants detection, of the FTIR method with that of conventional physico-chemical tests, adopted by the dairy industry in milk quality control. For this, almost 2500 milk samples were used for reference spectrum construction and 1625 samples were used in the validation process, to identification of the following five main adulterants (at three different concentrations) found in milk: (1) cornstarch, (2) sodium bicarbonate, (3) sodium citrate, (4) formaldehyde, and (5) saccharose, plus the additions of two levels of water or whey. After this step, 650 samples were prepared to compare the methods, using the same adulterants at the same concentrations of the previous step. The results revealed that the developed calibration demonstrated a good adulteration detection ability with excellent sensitivity (84%) and specificity (100%), mainly when compared with traditional tests. The FTIR method showed capacity of adulterants identification higher than that presented by physico-chemical methods, which proves its ability to be used directly in the milk reception platforms in dairy industry, improving industrial processes of adulterants detection.

O queijo Prato tem grande expressão comercial no Brasil, trata-se de um queijo bem padronizado tecnologicamente e o melhor caracterizado comercialmente. A aceitabilidade do consumidor está relacionada com características físico-químicas e sensoriais do produto, as quais são influenciadas pela presença de culturas lácticas. O trabalho teve por objetivo acompanhar a evolução de ácidos graxos durante a maturação do queijo Prato e sua influência na textura. A produção do Queijo Prato foi feita em escala laboratorial com ou sem adição de cultura láctica nas proporções de 0,75% e 1,5%. Os queijos foram envasados e mantidos sob refrigeração. Determinou-se parâmetros físico-químicos no primeiro dia e após, quatro, sete, quatorze, vinte e vinte e cinco dias de fabricação. Estes, foram comparados com dados analíticos e sensoriais de queijos comerciais. Observou -se que o uso de culturas em proporção adequada parece ser essencial para a fabricação de Queijo Prato com atributos organolépticos de qualidade. A proporção de culturas afetou o tempo de coagulação, o rendimento, e a umidade da massa do queijo, entretanto, não afetou a composição de ácidos graxos da gordura do queijo Prato. A textura foi afetada, principalmente, pelo teor de umidade, pela proteólise e pela acidez do queijo. / Prato cheese has a great commercial expression in Brazil, being well standardized technologically, and the best commercially characterized. Consumers acceptability is related with physico-chemical and sensorial characteristics of the product that are influenced by the presence of lactic cultures. The aim of this work was to follow fatty acids evolution during ripening and their influence in texture. Prato cheese was manufactured in laboratory scale, with and without addition of lactic cultures (0.75% and 1.5%). The cheese samples were stored under refrigeration. Physical-chemical analysis were carried out at the first day, and at 4, 7, 14, 20 and 25 days after manufacturing. The obtained data was compared with Prato cheese purchased in local market. It was concluded that the use of cultures in adequate proportions is essential for manufacture of Prato cheese with good organoleptic attributes. The cultures proportions affected coagulation time, yield, acidity, texture development, and fatty acids composition of the cheeses.

A adulteração do leite é uma prática comum e que preocupa as agências reguladoras, indústrias e a população. Apesar da crescente necessidade de identificação desse tipo de fraude, os métodos empregados geralmente possuem baixo rendimento analítico e alta dependência de mão-de-obra. Sendo assim, objetivou-se desenvolver calibração e validação para monitoramento de adulteração em leite cru, utilizando equipamento compacto (MilkoScan FT1), que adota a espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR). Ademais, objetivou-se comparar a acurácia na detecção de adulterantes do método de FTIR com os testes físico-químicos tradicionais adotados pela indústria no controle de qualidade do leite. Para isso, cerca de 2500 amostras de leite foram utilizadas para construção do espectro de referência e 1625 amostras foram empregadas para validar a identificação de cinco dos principais adulterantes (em três diferentes concentrações cada) encontrados em leite: (1) amido de milho; (2) bicarbonato de sódio; (3) citrato de sódio; (4) formaldeído; (5) sacarose, além da adição de dois níveis de água ou soro de leite. Após esta etapa, 650 amostras foram preparadas para comparação dos métodos, utilizando os mesmos adulterantes nas mesmas concentrações da etapa anterior. Os resultados demonstraram que as calibrações desenvolvidas expressaram boa capacidade geral de detecção de adulteração, apresentando excelente sensibilidade (84%) e especificidade (100%), principalmente quando comparadas com os testes tradicionais, visto que o método de FTIR apresentou capacidade de identificação de adulterantes em leite cru superior aos métodos físico-químicos tradicionais, podendo ser utilizado diretamente nas plataformas de recepção do leite nos laticínios, melhorando os processos industriais de detecção de adulterantes. / Milk adulteration is a common practice that concerns regulatory agencies, industry and the population. Despite the growing need for the identification of this type of fraud, the methods employed generally present low performance and high dependency on hand labor. Therefore, this study aimed to calibrate and validate a compact equipment (MilkoScan FT1) that adopts a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to monitor adulteration in raw milk. Furthermore, this study aimed to compare the accuracy in adulterants detection, of the FTIR method with that of conventional physico-chemical tests, adopted by the dairy industry in milk quality control. For this, almost 2500 milk samples were used for reference spectrum construction and 1625 samples were used in the validation process, to identification of the following five main adulterants (at three different concentrations) found in milk: (1) cornstarch, (2) sodium bicarbonate, (3) sodium citrate, (4) formaldehyde, and (5) saccharose, plus the additions of two levels of water or whey. After this step, 650 samples were prepared to compare the methods, using the same adulterants at the same concentrations of the previous step. The results revealed that the developed calibration demonstrated a good adulteration detection ability with excellent sensitivity (84%) and specificity (100%), mainly when compared with traditional tests. The FTIR method showed capacity of adulterants identification higher than that presented by physico-chemical methods, which proves its ability to be used directly in the milk reception platforms in dairy industry, improving industrial processes of adulterants detection.

O queijo Prato tem grande expressão comercial no Brasil, trata-se de um queijo bem padronizado tecnologicamente e o melhor caracterizado comercialmente. A aceitabilidade do consumidor está relacionada com características físico-químicas e sensoriais do produto, as quais são influenciadas pela presença de culturas lácticas. O trabalho teve por objetivo acompanhar a evolução de ácidos graxos durante a maturação do queijo Prato e sua influência na textura. A produção do Queijo Prato foi feita em escala laboratorial com ou sem adição de cultura láctica nas proporções de 0,75% e 1,5%. Os queijos foram envasados e mantidos sob refrigeração. Determinou-se parâmetros físico-químicos no primeiro dia e após, quatro, sete, quatorze, vinte e vinte e cinco dias de fabricação. Estes, foram comparados com dados analíticos e sensoriais de queijos comerciais. Observou -se que o uso de culturas em proporção adequada parece ser essencial para a fabricação de Queijo Prato com atributos organolépticos de qualidade. A proporção de culturas afetou o tempo de coagulação, o rendimento, e a umidade da massa do queijo, entretanto, não afetou a composição de ácidos graxos da gordura do queijo Prato. A textura foi afetada, principalmente, pelo teor de umidade, pela proteólise e pela acidez do queijo. / Prato cheese has a great commercial expression in Brazil, being well standardized technologically, and the best commercially characterized. Consumers acceptability is related with physico-chemical and sensorial characteristics of the product that are influenced by the presence of lactic cultures. The aim of this work was to follow fatty acids evolution during ripening and their influence in texture. Prato cheese was manufactured in laboratory scale, with and without addition of lactic cultures (0.75% and 1.5%). The cheese samples were stored under refrigeration. Physical-chemical analysis were carried out at the first day, and at 4, 7, 14, 20 and 25 days after manufacturing. The obtained data was compared with Prato cheese purchased in local market. It was concluded that the use of cultures in adequate proportions is essential for manufacture of Prato cheese with good organoleptic attributes. The cultures proportions affected coagulation time, yield, acidity, texture development, and fatty acids composition of the cheeses.

Inspired by the sudden recent incline in and awareness of veganism as well as my own personal involvement in such matters, I sought out to complete an empirical analysis to study the impact of consumer preferences. Originally intrigued by the consumption of meat and its impact on developing countries, I opted for a related topic with better accompanying data. Consumer preferences change regularly with an increasing plethora of reasons behind their decisions. As the guiding force of the demand side of the market, it was vital to study the impact of their choices. My decision to use plant-based milk was meant to be a proxy for consumers who could not consume dairy. To my surprise, the force behind the increase in plant-based milk consumption was not propelled by those with alternative lifestyles but regular consumers who wanted healthier and better-tasting options. Further analysis has led me to look past consumers themselves and their individual choices to identify the impacts of their choices. This required an intricate look into the United States dairy industry and its composition. What is recorded within the next 45 pages is a delicate web of outcomes spun by the needs of consumers. It branches out into the lives of small dairy farmers who cannot compete with larger farms. It spins out to form a massive web of increasing profit for the plant-based milk industry. It creates a loss in the whole milk sector of the dairy industry only to be filled by the organic and specialty sectors. While they can be guided into choices through various forms of advertisement, the world has changed since the introduction of modern economics, and consumers are learning to utilize the products that fit their lifestyles. Gone are the days of passive consumption and food pyramids. Information has never been as readily available as it is today, with the help of the internet and independent researchers, and consumers have chosen to use this to their advantage.

The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how a company selling commodity products works to create interest and loyalty among customers and how to stand out relative to competition. Based upon present theories within marketing communication, a comparison is made with actual market information to understand how well the theory can predict reality. The study is applied to the dairy industry with the company Valio as the bench mark. In total four persons have been interviewed, marketing manager and category manager at Valio Sweden, and also project manager and art director from their advertising agency. The qualitative data obtained has been compared to predications given by theory. The result shows that in order to increase interest and loyalty and to differentiate yourself from competition, there are three corner stones that have to penetrate all marketing communication. These are added value, high quality and a strong identity. The study has proven that the practical results obtained from reality have a strong correlation to predications made by the theoretical framework that has been used.

Globalisation causes continual change in the dairy industry, creating new opportunities and risks in countries, states, and regions. To survive and benefit from these changes, stakeholders from across each country's dairy industry need to co-operate to develop alternatives for their regions. The Australian and Brazilian dairy Research, Development and Extension (R,D&E) organisations recognise this need in their mission statements. They also have some initiatives for more effective interaction with the stakeholders in their dairy industries. In the 1990s Australia created Regional Dairy Programs, including a Subtropical Dairy Program (SDP) for tropical and subtropical areas of east Australia, to gather demands from the production regions in order to design R,D&E. To promote interaction between R,D&E efforts and agricultural industries the Australian government matches expenditure on R,D&E dollar for dollar. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation for Dairy (Embrapa Dairy) developed the Platform Project, with the objective of identifying constraints on dairy development in Brazil's main dairy production regions. Embrapa Dairy has also moved researchers to those regions to establish a link between stakeholders and the head research station in the design of R&D. There remains room for improvement in both countries' methods. In Australia's SDP, priorities for R,D&E are identified by regional teams consisting mostly of farmers and R,D&E people, but an evaluation has recommended involving a broader range of stakeholders to increase the diversity of ideas. In Brazil, dairy R&D priorities are identified mostly through quantitative surveys with farmers or panels of experts who consider large regions (of more than three states), without deeper involvement of farmers. Models and approaches in extension and systems thinking offer ideas for more effective and comprehensive approaches. The objectives of this study were to: 1. Develop a strategy to: - Involve a broad set of stakeholders in a dairy community to obtain a holistic view of their priorities for R,D&E, and - Help R,D&E people to understand the dairy farms and the production realities of small regions. 2. Document and compare the R,D&E priorities of dairy stakeholders in one Australian and two Brazilian regions, including the views of different groups of stakeholders within each region. Regional studies were conducted in three dairy regions, one region in the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, and two regions in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The research method within each region studied combined three approaches, each involving a variety of stakeholders from across the production communities. These were familiarisation through staying on a farm and building trust; individual interviews with a diversity of stakeholders from farmers to off-farm enterprises and R,D&E staff, and focus group interviews with participants selected from those already interviewed individually. The focus groups verified and enlarged upon the findings of the individual interviews, and enabled convergence among the participants' views. The three approaches produced complementary results. The strategy for eliciting R,D&E priorities worked equally well in all three case studies. Across the three cases, the individual interviews pointed out previously unrecognised R,D&E priorities, going beyond production technologies into issues such as communication, farm management, labour and finance. Pasture issues also remained important. The results from the focus group interviews corroborated communication, farm management and finance as important priorities for R,D&E, while adding marketing, industry policy and organisation of farmers, issues which had not stood out originally in the individual interviews in any of the three regions studied. This suggests a number of things. In terms of strategy for developing R,D&E priorities, both individual interviews and group processes are valuable, and may provide somewhat different outcomes. Further, the primary information needs for the industry lie beyond the farm and production technologies. The results also show that stakeholders would like R,D&E people to work as their partners in improving the dairy industry. The involvement of a broader range of stakeholders brought a more holistic and integrated view of each region's dairy development needs. It was particularly useful to engage people from throughout the dairy community with R,D&E practitioners in identifying priorities, since this broadened the picture of needs and showed the relative importance of production technologies alongside other, previously unrecognised needs. The results also suggest that research organisations should include staff capable of taking a more systemic view of dairy production systems, on- and off-farm, and potentially other industries. The academic significance of this study lies in the combination of systems thinking, stakeholder analysis and participation with extension science, towards a practical need.

Η διπλωματική αυτή εργασία, συνίσταται στην μελέτη των αυτοματισμών παραγωγής της διαδικασίας επεξεργασίας γάλακτος στη βιομηχανία Ροδόπη Α.Ε. καθώς και στη συλλογή δεδομένων και τον εποπτικό έλεγχο αυτής. Επιπρόσθετα, αναπτύχθηκε εξαρχής η αυτοματοποίηση και η ανάπτυξη συστήματος SCADA του βιολογικού καθαρισμού της πιο πάνω βιομηχανίας. Για την εκπόνηση της διπλωματικής εργασίας, ήταν αναγκαία η τετράμηνη πρακτική εργασία μου στη βιομηχανία Ροδόπη Α.Ε. από τις 1-7-2011 έως τις 31-10-2011, γεγονός που μου επέτρεψε να συλλέξω τα απαιτούμενα στοιχεία για την αναλυτική περιγραφή των διαφόρων σταδίων της παραγωγικής διαδικασίας. Η αυτοματοποίηση πραγματοποιήθηκε με τη χρήση ενός PLC και ενός συστήματος SCADA. Στην πρώτη φάση υλοποίησης της διπλωματικής εργασίας, προγραμματίστηκε ένα PLC το οποίο θα αναλάμβανε τον κυρίως έλεγχο της εγκατάστασης μετρώντας όλα τα χρήσιμα για τον έλεγχο μεγέθη (στάθμη δεξαμενών, ρεύμα κινητήρων, pH κλπ) και αντιδρώντας αντίστοιχα σε κάθε μεταβολή των μεγεθών αυτών. Η δεύτερη φάση, περιελάμβανε την ανάπτυξη ενός συστήματος SCADA για την εποπτεία και την παρακολούθηση της εγκατάστασης. Για να μπορέσει αυτό το σύστημα να αναλάβει το έλεγχο της εγκατάστασης, το PLC και το SCADA επικοινωνούν μέσω ενός δικτύου MPI, μέσω του οποίου πραγματοποιείται η συνεχής ενημέρωση της εκάστοτε συσκευής για τις αλλαγές που πραγματοποιούνται στην άλλη. Έτσι, σχεδιάστηκε ένα σύστημα SCADA, το οποίο δίνει τη δυνατότητα στο χειριστή να επεμβαίνει στο σύστημα και να μπορεί ανά πάσα στιγμή να γνωρίζει οποιαδήποτε πληροφορία χρειάζεται για την εγκατάσταση με τον ευκολότερο δυνατό τρόπο. / -

There is lack of empirical exploratory studies investigating manager motivation in the dairy industry in Iran. This study has aimed to fill this gap and take into account the socio-economic and religious factors that influence managers’ motivation in this industry thus contextualising motivation of managers in Iranian dairy industry. In order to achieve this aim and related objectives a mixed method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, was adopted collect the adequate and relevant data. Findings showed that a significant proportion of managers are responding neutrally to and/or are satisfied with underlying factors that reflect hygiene at Damdaran. Results also indicated a sharp difference between response trends to items representing hygiene and motivators. Moreover, it was discovered that managers reported a high relation between performance and motivator factors, such as job status and recognition. Findings validated the key distinction made in literature between motivators and hygiene factors and that motivators tend to emerge from intrinsic job characteristics. Further analysis revealed that at Damdaran worsening economic condition during the past five years has increased managers’ ii perceived level of stress at work thus adversely affecting their motivation. Managers showed concern for security, family responsibility, working condition and the worsening of the economy in recent years. One of the most important recommendations is the need for more future empirical research into the influence of special socio-economic and cultural forces that shape the reality for managers’ work, their perception and expectation of reward system in the dairy organisations in Iran.