Faces of Dairy Foods Extension

Spotlight

Sam Reichler

Sam Reichler is a second year PhD student in the Milk Quality Improvement Program laboratory at Cornell. Sam began working in the lab in 2013, when he was an undergraduate earning his B.S. in food science. His past projects have focused on the growth of spore forming bacteria in fluid milk at refrigeration temperatures and on the spoilage of yogurt by yeast and mold. Sam is currently working with New York State dairy plants to detect and characterize the Gram negative bacteria in their milk responsible for post-pasteurization contamination and subsequent spoilage. His project’s goal is to implement corrective actions at the plant level, including novel cleaning and sanitation chemistry and modified worker behavior, that will improve the quality and shelf-life of fluid milk by reducing the instance of post-pasteurization contamination.