The Western Dairy Center pursues an ongoing mission to conduct basic and applied research in dairy products and ingredients and to transfer the resulting knowledge to the dairy industry in usable form. It is supported by Dairy Management Inc. (The National Dairy Board), the dairy inducstry and local dairy farmer organizations.

The Center uses a multi-disciplinary approach to solve problems and improve products in the dairy industry. The scope of research covers all aspect of dairy foods technology and production including:

microbial genetics
microbial physiology
rheology
whey processing
milk processing

enzymology
protein chemistry
nutrition
microbiology
cheese processing
genomics

-Fluid milk and ice cream
-Fermented products (cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, buttermilk)
-Milk protein chemistry (coagulation, denaturation, separation)
-Food engineering (membrane, extrusion and injection processing)
-Genetics and bioengineering of lactic acid bacteria
-Ultra high temperature and extended shelf life products