Army Veterinary Officers Complete Specialized Dairy Pasteurizer Audit Training in Denmark
KOLDING, Denmark — Thirteen U.S. Army Veterinary Corps officers recently completed Europe Dairy Pasteurizer Audit Training in Kolding, Denmark by participating in specialized technical instruction and on-site field evaluations across eight Danish dairy manufacturing facilities.
The intensive course, held Sept. 13-26, was led by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Clayton Davenport, command food safety officer for Public Health Command Europe. The training brought together military auditors stationed across multiple commands and operational theaters, including Public Health Command Europe, Public Health Command Pacific, Multinational Force and Observers Egypt, Area Support Group Kuwait, and the 445th Medical Detachment Veterinary Service Support.
"The primary training objective was to provide progressive and sequential auditor development training in pasteurizer operations that enhances understanding of the public health controls of various pasteurizers," Davenport said.
The program directly supports military readiness by safeguarding the Department of War food supply, ensuring safe, wholesome dairy products reach service members, warfighters and military families overseas.
In the United States, commercial milk processing adheres strictly to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), widely recognized as the domestic standard for the design, operation and testing of pasteurization equipment.
"The milk sanitation program of the United States Public Health Service is one of its oldest and most respected activities," Davenport said.
However, public health experts note that commercial pasteurization systems across Europe, Africa and the Middle East often do not conform to standard PMO criteria. To bridge that regulatory difference, the specialized course has been developed, taught and refined since 2004 to equip overseas Veterinary Corps officers with the technical expertise needed to assess foreign pasteurization machinery.
Armed with that training, officers can determine whether pasteurizers operating outside the United States provide an equivalent or superior level of food safety compared to American standards.
Public health officials consider the Public Health Command Europe program the only training of its kind in the world. It offers military inspectors an exclusive opportunity to examine more than 65 distinct pasteurizer configurations that supply dairy products to the largest concentration of U.S. forces stationed outside the United States.
Field evaluations were conducted at eight Danish commercial plants currently certified as approved sources for U.S. military procurement, giving inspectors practical experience evaluating equipment controls and safety margins under active operating conditions.
“Maintaining specialized auditing capabilities remains essential to force health protection, particularly amid budgetary pressures,” added Davenport.
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