A Wireless Electronic Monitoring System for Securing Milk from Farm to Processor Phillip Womble* a , Lindsay Hopper a ,Chris Thompson b , Suraj M. Alexander c , William Crist b , Fred Payne b , Tim Stombaugh b , Jon Paschal a , Ryan Moore a , Brian Luck b , Nasrin Tabayehnejab b a Applied Physics Institute, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd, Bowling Green, KY, USA 42101-1077; b University of Kentucky, 220 Barnhart Bldg., Lexington, KY USA 40546-0276 c Department of Industrial Engineering, Speed School, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY USA 40292 ABSTRACT The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have targeted bulk food contamination as a focus for attention. The contamination of bulk food poses a high consequence threat to our society. Milk transport falls into three of the 17 targeted NIPP (National Infrastructure Protection Plan) sectors including agriculture-food, public health, and commercial facilities. Minimal security safeguards have been developed for bulk milk transport. The current manual methods of securing milk are paper intensive and prone to errors. The bulk milk transportation sector requires a security enhancement that will both reduce recording errors and enable normal transport activities to occur while providing security against unauthorized access. Milk transportation companies currently use voluntary seal programs that utilize plastic, numbered seals on milk transport tank openings. Our group has developed a Milk Transport Security System which is an electromechanical access control and communication system that assures the secure transport of milk, milk samples, milk data, and security data between locations and specifically between dairy farms, transfer stations, receiving stations, and milk plants. It includes a security monitoring system installed on the milk transport tank, a hand held device, optional printers, data server, and security evaluation software. The system operates automatically and requires minimal or no attention by the bulk milk hauler/sampler. The system is compatible with existing milk transport infrastructure, and has the support of the milk producers, milk transportation companies, milk marketing agencies, and dairy processors. The security protocol developed is applicable for transport of other bulk foods both nationally and internationally. This system adds significantly to the national security infrastructure for bulk food transport. We are currently demonstrating the system in central Kentucky and will report on the results of the demonstration. Keywords: bulk food, milk transport, security monitoring system, national security infrastructure 1. INTRODUCTION The Bioterrorism Act (Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002) addresses threat assessments, technologies, and procedures for securing food processing and manufacturing facilities and modes of transportation. The development of security systems to prevent potential adulteration of foods, while still enabling routine food production and transportation activities to occur, is stated as “essential.” Key elements of the Bioterrorism Act focus on protection against adulteration of food and maintenance and inspection of records for foods. The food safety and security of Grade A milk is under the purview of the FDA. Manufacture grade dairy products are regulated by the USDA. FDA has identified milk as a heightened food security concern and a priority in terms of national security 1 . Bulk milk’s large batch size, rapid turnaround at retail, rapid consumption, thorough mixing during processing, and high accessibility are the four consistent features of a high-risk food. Sensors, and Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) Technologies for Homeland Security and Homeland Defense VII, edited by Edward M. Carapezza, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6943, 694315, (2008) · 0277-786X/08/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.782971 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6943 694315-1 2008 SPIE Digital Library -- Subscriber Archive Copy