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FOOD & BEVERAGE
A FORMULA FOR FOOD SECURITY
Food safety specialist Fortress Technology analyses the dairy industry’s role in enhancing global food security through sustainable production, particularly in the rapidly expanding global milk powder market.
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n a new whitepaper recently published by food inspection and contaminant detection specialist Fortress Technology, the company, which has manufacturing hubs in the UK/Europe, North and South America, and now New Zealand, reviews
the environmental benefits of sharing best practice in the expanding global Whole and Skim Milk Powder market. Sales firector Phil Brown specifically underscores the importance of implementing consistent quality control and contaminant inspection standards internationally to protect consumers and reduce processing emissions.
DOWN THE DRAIN According to the Sustainable Food Trust, the United Kingdom wastes approximately 490 million pints of milk per year. Putting this into context, in liquid form this amount of milk would fill more than 122 Olympic-sized swimming
pools. Making milk among the top five most wasted food products in the UK. Aside from good product loss, milk waste
dramatically impacts the environment as one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gases. With
a carbon footprint of around 1.1kg CO2 per litre, the amount of milk the UK produces and subsequently wastes in a year equates to 3.3
million tonnes of CO2. While one of the most common causes of the
UK’s food waste habits can be attributed to a general misunderstanding of expiration date labels, consumers are not the only ones responsible for this excessive waste.
SUPPLY VERSUS DEMAND Dairy cows require daily milking. Any oversupply often leads to dairy farmers disposing of milk before it is even processed. With the UK and Europe lifting defined milk quotas on 31 March 2015, milk lakes and butter
mountains are a thing of the past. It means that there are now no production limits. Unfortunately, many of the leading causes of
food waste are beyond the control of farmers. Climatic events, supply chain unfairness and labour shortages, all contribute to food waste and surplus. With milking accounting for between 31 per cent and 57 per cent of labour time spent on dairy farms, plus the slim margin on milk and its short shelf-life, any small hit to the labour market can have detrimental effects on dairy production. In 2021, Sky News reported British dairy
farmers having to pour tens of thousands of litres of milk away due to a shortage of HGV and milk tanker drivers. One fourth-generation dairy farmer was forced to dump 40,000 litres of milk after no drivers turned up to collect it. Research has also suggested that half of UK
dairy farms are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit staff. They attribute much of the blame to the loss of EU workers following Brexit, worsened by the pandemic, and resulting in a 12.2 per cent vacancy rate.
FOOD WASTE REDUCTION TARGETS When production continues to outstrip demand, it leads to a surplus of perishable agricultural
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