ARKANSAS FFA MILK QUALITY and PRODUCTS

CAREER DEVELOPMENT EVENT

I.  Purpose

The Milk Quality and Products Career Development Event promotes practical learning activities in milk quality and dairy products, as well as assisting students in developing team decision-making skills. The focus of the Milk Quality and Products Career Development is raw milk quality, federal milk marketing orders and attributes of selected milk products. The four general areas that contribute to milk quality and consumer demand are:

Milk production

Milk quality and safety

Milk processing or manufacturing

Raw milk marketing

II.  Event Rules

A.  Teams may consist of three or four members. Team ranking is determined by combining the scores of the top three students from each team. Teams that have fewer than three members are not eligible for team awards, but students may receive individual awards.

B.  Participants are not to use strong deodorant, perfume, chewing gum or other detractors to the tastes and smell senses.

C.  Any participant with a cellular device in their hand will be disqualified. Cellular devices may NOT be used as calculators under any circumstances.

III.  Event Format

A.  Materials each participant needs to provide:

1.  Clipboard (Clear and Unmarked)

2.  Two sharpened No. 2 pencils for placing classes

3.  Optional: Students may wish to bring a non-programmable calculator, bottled water and or palette cleanser.

B.  Flow of Event

1.  Milk Flavor Identification and Evaluation- 20 minutes

2.  Fat Content Identification – 20 minutes

3.  Cheese Identification – 20 minutes

4.  Problem Solving – 40 minutes

5.  Written Exam – 40 minutes

IV.  Individual Activities

a.  Milk Flavor Identification and Evaluation (20 minutes) – 150 points

1. Ten milk samples will be scored on flavor (taste and odor) using the computerized score-card. All samples of milk are prepared from pasteurized milk intended for table use and will score 1 to 10 (See Scoring Guide). Milk samples will be tempered to 60’F. Only those cups provided at the event may be used.

2. Participants are to use whole numbers when scoring “Flavor” of milk and to check only the most serious defect in a sample even if more than one flavor is detected. If no defect is noted, participants should check, “No defect” and score as a ten (See Scoring Guide).

3. Palette cleansers (e.g. apples or soda crackers) will be allowed for refreshing.

Scoring Guide-Refer to the current scorecard provided by Arkansas FFA

Scores may range from 1 to 10. On a quality basis:

10 excellent (no defect)

8 to 9 good

5 to 7 fair

2 to 4 poor

1 unacceptable/un-salable

Example: Milk Flavor

DEFECTS / Slight / Definite / Pronounced
Acid / 3 / 2 / 1
Bitter / 5 / 3 / 1
Feed / 9 / 8 / 5
Flat/Watery / 9 / 8 / 7
Foreign / 5 / 3 / 1
Garlic/Onion / 5 / 3 / 1
Malty / 5 / 3 / 1
Oxidized / 6 / 4 / 1
Rancid / 4 / 2 / 1
Salty / 8 / 6 / 4

*Suggested scores are given for three intensities of flavor. All numbers within the range may be used. Intermediate numbers may also be used; for example, a bitter sample of milk may score 4.

B. Milk Fat Content of Fresh Milk Products (20 minutes) – 15 points

1. Five samples of fresh fluid milk products will be identified according to their content of milk fat.

2. The following products may be included amount the samples: nonfat (skim) milk, reduced fat milk (2%), milk (3.3%), half and half (10.5%), coffee cream (18%) and whipping cream (30%).

C. Cheese Identification (20 Minutes) – 50 points

(Cheese ID : 15 Points; Characteristics: 35 Points)

1. Five cheese samples for identification will be selected from those listed below. Cubes of the cheeses will be available for tasting. Note: More than one sample of a given cheese may be used. A score of 3 points is given for each variety correctly identified. Uncolored cheeses may be used.

2. In addition to identifying cheese samples, participants will classify characteristics of identified cheeses using the following matrix. Participants will have seven characteristics to select based on the five identified cheese samples (35 points possible). An example cheese characteristic problem can be found below, as well as in the reference section of the national handbook.

Cheese Characteristics Matrix: A description of major varieties of cheeses popular among American consumers.

Variety / Moisture (%) (Max) / Fat (%) (Min) / Gas Holes (Expected) / Pasta Filata / Brine/surface salted / Ripened by / Origin
Bleu / 46 / 50 / No / No / Yes / Mold / France
Brick / 44 / 50 / No / No / No / Bacteria / US
Brie / 52.5 / 20 / No / No / No / Bacteria & mold / France
Cheddar / 39 / 50 / No / No / No / Bacteria / England
Edam / 45 / 40 / No / No / Yes / Bacteria / Netherlands
Cream / 55 / 33 / No / No / No / Unripened / US
Monterey, Jack / 44 / 50 / No / No / No / Bacteria / US
Mozzarella / 60 / 45 / No / Yes / Yes / Bacteria / Italy
Neufchatel / 65 / 20 / No / No / No / Unripened / France
Parmesan / 32 / 32 / No / No / Yes / Bacteria / Italy
Processed American / 40 / 50 / No / No / No / Bacteria / US
Provolone / 45 / 45 / No / Yes / Yes / Bacteria / Italy
Swiss / 41 / 43 / Yes / No / Yes / Bacteria / Switzerland

D. Written Test (40 minutes) – 120 points

The written test will be comprised of a total of 60 multiple choice items. The test will consist of two parts with one part consisting of thirty (30) questions on quality milk production and a second part of thirty (30) questions on milk marketing. Test questions will be taken from the past 5 years of national contest tests.

F. Problem Solving (40 minutes) – 30 points

The problem solving test will consist of critical-thinking, multiple choice questions.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

1.  Decisions about the quality and acceptability of milk.

2.  Calculations of the value of milk and components of milk.

3.  Decisions about components of milk and milk products (including processing procedures).

4.  Decisions about the use of chemicals in cleaning and sanitizing operations.

The problem solving portion will be in the same format as national exam but will not come from the test bank.

V.  Scoring

The event will be worth 1,840 total points based on positive-type scoring.

Activity Points/Sample Samples Points

Milk Flavor Identification

And Evaluation 15 points/sample 10 samples 150

(5 pts for ID/10 pts for score)

Fat Identification 3 points/sample 5 samples 15

Cheese type identification 3 points/sample 5 samples 15

Cheese characteristic identification 7 point/sample 5 samples 35

Written Exam 2 points/question 60 questions 120

Problem Solving 30

Total Possible Individual Points 365

Total Points per Team 1095

VI.  Tiebreakers

If ties occur, the following events will be used in order to determine award recipients:

Team:

Highest individual score

Individual:

Exam

Sum of milk flavors, fat ID, and cheese ID