While phage testing is a common practice within dairies, receiving results can take anywhere from four hours to over a week. At that point, it is often too late to prevent the effects of phage contamination on the performance of cultures or the duration of the fermentation process. In fact, just one week of phage-affected cheese production can result in significant cheese losses of up to €200k.
That is why DSM introduced a new and unique one-hour phage detection technology and digital phage management platform.
Delvo®Phage test kit is the fastest phage testing kit on the market. It can detect phages in dairy within one hour, helping to increase cheese yield and quality, reduce waste and boost value in cheese production by 5-10%. Ideal for cheese and fermented milk products, Delvo®Phage test kit is a unique, qPCR test kit offering quantitative phage detection results ‘on the spot’ at several steps during production. It enables active bacteriophage monitoring and management in mesophilic and thermophilic dairy processes for reliable and consistent production, providing an early warning system for preventing phage problems. With increased consistency, dairies can increase production capacity and improve cheese and fermented dairy product quality, while also reducing economic losses by preventing waste, minimizing production slowdowns and improving sustainability.
Further advancing its market-leading portfolio of phage management solutions, DSM also provides the Delvo®Analytics app. This app offers a 24/7 platform for phage insights and data from whey samples of production. It enables dairy manufacturers to take immediate action on results with customized culture rotation recommendations. Together with DSM’s whey testing and culture rotation services, the new digital solutions enable cheese and fermented milk product producers to make smarter, data-driven decisions in real-time for more efficient and cost-effective production processes.
