Modeling Vulnerabilities in Minnesota’s Milk Production and Processing Industries

Theodore Labuza, Professor, Food Science and Nutrition
John Shutske, Professor
Heidi Kassenborg, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Peri Periakaruppan, Research Assistant
Ben Miller, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Peter Raynor, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

Funding Source

Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Objective

Assess Minnesota’s milk system from farm to table and quantify vulnerabilities at all nodes within the system and development of effective intervention strategies.

Need or Impact

Various analyses by the FDA, USDA, and DHS indicate that the U.S. fluid milk system is one of the sectors of the food system most vulnerable to intentional attack. This assessment is documenting and quantifying critical aspects of the milk system in Minnesota from farm-to-table so that key interventions and design/control strategies can be developed to reduce risk to consumers and to the agricultural economy.

Project Status

The project’s Institutional Review Board application was recently approved, and preliminary data about the fluid milk system has been collected from regulatory inspectors and related industry groups. Data will be analyzed with Visio, TaskMap, and Analytica software.