Dairy

Residents living near the Rosenberger Dairies property in East Bradford have appeared before the Planning Commission to oppose plans to develop the site as a retail commercial center. Developer William Freas asked the commission on Tuesday to comment on revised plans for development of the property. The original plans showed the construction of a commercial center and townhouses, but the new proposal is for a commercial complex only. Freas plans to appear before the Zoning Board to request a zoning change for the portion of the site that is zoned for residential use. But residents living near the dairy, at Neal Street and Route 52, are concerned about the increased traffic that a retail center would produce.

An attorney for Bechtel Dairies Inc. says he will ask a federal judge to lift the order that froze the company's assets and accused it of selling diluted and adulterated milk to local schools, federal veterans' hospitals and stores. Geoffrey L. Beauchamp described as "baseless" allegations made against Bechtel Dairies in a civil lawsuit filed last week by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Beauchamp said that tomorrow he would ask for an emergency hearing on the restraining order and seek to have it lifted.

The company chairman, Harry Goldberg, is 87. His son, Raymond, the president and chief executive, is 62. Then there's Ray's son Rick, the executive vice president. And Ray's daughter, Robin Goldberg Batoff, who's director of marketing. If you've surmised that this is a family business of some duration, you are correct. And what a business this Penn Maid is. In contrast to the many regional dairy companies that have long since folded to giants like Sealtest and Kraft, Penn Maid Foods Inc. still flies proudly the independent family colors of the smiling cow, Queenie.

Kraft General Foods yesterday said it would close the Philadelphia headquarters of its National Dairy Products Corp., which employs 203 people. The company said it expected that at least half the 165 management employees would be transferred to other Kraft and General Foods offices in White Plains, N.Y., and Glenview, Ill. The others will be laid off, but may be offered other jobs with Kraft. The office, in Seven Penn Center, manages several dairy food brands, including its Sealtest and Cool Whip frozen desserts and the company's sour cream, cheese and yogurt brands.

If you are a coffee drinker who reaches eagerly for powdered, non-dairy creamers for your brew, thinking they are somehow better for you than milk, half-and-half or real cream, two Nebraska researchers suggest that you think again. In fact, say the two researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, the two chief ingredients in 22 of the 25 non-dairy coffee whiteners on the market have a pronounced ability to increase the concentrations of potentially harmful fat levels in the blood.

Question: I've heard that calcium can interfere with the absorption of certain prescription medications. Does that include almond milk, yogurt, and cheese, too? Answer: Dairy products and calcium can bind up certain medications in the stomach, reducing their absorption and efficacy. Almond "milk" is not actually a dairy product, however, so it does not have this effect. Medications whose absorption can potentially be reduced by the dairy products or calcium supplements include: Levaquin and Cipro antibiotics; iron supplements; osteoporosis drugs like Fosamax and Actonel; Synthroid (levothyroxine)

Wawa Inc. is ready to start next week on a $30 million, five-year expansion of its dairy and warehouse operations off Baltimore Pike. At a meeting Monday night, the Township Council voted, 4-0, to approve final plans for Wawa, with a list of conditions that included correcting the odor problem stemming from the dairy's pre-treatment sewage plant. Wawa officials have said that the company has more than 500 convenience stores and expects that number to double by the turn of the century.

Wawa Inc. does not want to leave its home town, but its dairy definitely is facing growing pains, company officials say. In 1929, when the dairy was built, it produced milk primarily for home delivery. All that changed in 1964, when Wawa opened its first convenience store. Wawa now has 516 stores, and expects that number to double by the turn of the century, said Vincent Anderson, Wawa vice president and general counsel. To meet its stores' growing demand for milk and juice, Wawa must expand its dairy and warehouse operations, he said.

WATER ICE IS A cherished summer institution in Philly, and those of us who skip dairy, whether for ethical, health or other concerns, can appreciate this cool vegan treat. Sorbet, Popsicles, frozen fruit bars and the like are also delish. But let's face it: "You can always have water ice [or sorbet]" is the cool-treat equivalent of "you can always have a salad. " Nothing against salad or water ice, but we sometimes want that singular richness and flavor associated with ice cream.

No battle took place here, not even an American Revolutionary War skirmish, although a stream of British troops once marched through the southernmost part of this township's rolling countryside. For nearly 300 years, the land was a virtual theater of the times - but not one featuring political or military history. Its historical significance is far more prosaic: It concerns cattle, dairy farms and horses. Such bucolic assets have helped a large tract of land here earn a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Got milk? Pass the butter? Not in Kenya, where both of those staples are increasingly scarce because a drought-induced dairy shortage is wreaking havoc on the milk, butter, and yogurt shelves. Grocery store owners, restaurant managers, and customers are annoyed and frustrated that an item as basic as butter is almost impossible to find in what is frequently billed as East Africa's largest economy. Farmers are producing only 30 percent of the country's needs, causing milk prices to shoot up in recent weeks by nearly a third.

Kristian Holbrook's been trying to perfect Hummingbird for nine years. "And I'm still trying," says the cheesemaker at Doe Run, the Chester County dairy on Urban Outfitters founder Dick Hayne's estate. Holbrook's modesty is really admiration for Robiola Bosina, the luscious Italian that was his inspiration. But creamy Hummingbird, which flows with the fresh tang of both sheep and cow's milk, was good enough for a coveted first prize in 2011 from the American Cheese Society. Holbrook makes several other fine cheeses, including an aged, gouda-like Seven Sisters.

William L. Rosenberger, 84, a retired president of Rosenberger's Dairies, which was founded by his father and grandfather on the family farm in 1925, died of complications from a stroke Thursday at the Dock Woods Community in Lansdale. In his 64 years with the family business, Mr. Rosenberger was known for doing whatever it took to make sure milk arrived on porch doorsteps or on supermarket shelves. Mr. Rosenberger delivered milk door-to-door in glass bottles and hauled large cans of it on company trucks.

WATER ICE IS A cherished summer institution in Philly, and those of us who skip dairy, whether for ethical, health or other concerns, can appreciate this cool vegan treat. Sorbet, Popsicles, frozen fruit bars and the like are also delish. But let's face it: "You can always have water ice [or sorbet]" is the cool-treat equivalent of "you can always have a salad. " Nothing against salad or water ice, but we sometimes want that singular richness and flavor associated with ice cream.

Question: I've heard that calcium can interfere with the absorption of certain prescription medications. Does that include almond milk, yogurt, and cheese, too? Answer: Dairy products and calcium can bind up certain medications in the stomach, reducing their absorption and efficacy. Almond "milk" is not actually a dairy product, however, so it does not have this effect. Medications whose absorption can potentially be reduced by the dairy products or calcium supplements include: Levaquin and Cipro antibiotics; iron supplements; osteoporosis drugs like Fosamax and Actonel; Synthroid (levothyroxine)

James V. Magliocco, 82, of Newfield, owner of Saul's Dairy there since 1955, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Thursday, March 31, at the Elmer (N.J.) Hospital of South Jersey Healthcare. Born in Malaga, Mr. Magliocco graduated from Clayton High School in 1944 and served in the Army infantry from 1950 to 1952 in West Germany. After he married Janet Saul in 1955, he assumed responsibility for operation of the wholesale and retail business that her family had begun in 1937.

A fear of falling knows no age or season, but this past winter and a recent physical exam reminded me that time and gravity conspire to make arms, legs, and hips snap like dry twigs. Advice about fighting back has been around for many years and ranges from performing balancing exercises and weight-bearing activities to popping pills that boost calcium, a necessary ingredient in maintaining overall skeletal health. Even so, the most recent science-based Dietary Guidelines for Americans notes that "a significant number of Americans have low bone mass, a risk factor for osteoporosis, which places them at risk of bone fractures.

More than 40 years ago, my husband and I began our life work as Pennsylvania dairy farmers. After a year of selling our milk to a small processing firm, we joined a dairy-marketing cooperative because it fit with our philosophy of farmers working together. Congress encouraged the co-op business philosophy in 1922, when it passed the Capper-Volstead Act, which gives farmers limited antitrust protection, enabling them to join together in organizations whose larger scale and marketing power allow them to seek better markets and prices.

A ruling by the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board on Wednesday will boost annual payments to struggling Pennsylvania dairy farmers by an estimated $6.7 million, according to Gov. Rendell. "As one of the few states with the ability to affect pricing, Pennsylvania is taking decisive action to help its dairy producers," Rendell said Thursday. The projected payments are small in Pennsylvania's $1.5 billion industry, but given the industry's difficulties, "any revenue that's out there that can be returned to the farmer is positive, no matter how small," said John Frey, executive director of the state's Center for Dairy Excellence.

Under a dilapidated farm building in Gloucester County, Owen Pool tugs at his sweat-stained "Got Milk?" cap, stretches out his bad knee, and tries to make sense of the dairy industry. Pool says he's losing money every time he milks a cow, thanks to a bewildering mix of circumstances that includes a U.S. cheese surplus, the decline of consumer demand in China, and the lack of precipitation in Australia last year. "I talk to this economist in D.C., to try and stay on top of things," said the 71-year-old dairy farmer.