Professional Cheese Making

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Courses - September 2025

Level 1

Course details

College Reading & Writing Skills
COMM1085

Description: This course introduces students to the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills needed for academic and workplace success. Students will analyse a variety of texts and apply the steps of planning, writing, and revising to produce writing that meets the expectations of selected audiences and purposes. The course prepares students for college-level writing tasks, research, and documentation by asking them to produce clear, informed, and purposeful documents relevant to both academic and professional contexts.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Conestoga 101
CON0101

Description: This self-directed course focuses on introducing new students to the supports, services, and opportunities available at Conestoga College. By the end of this course, students will understand the academic expectations of the Conestoga learning environment, as well as the supports available to ensure their academic success. Students will also be able to identify on-campus services that support their health and wellness, and explore ways to get actively involved in the Conestoga community through co-curricular learning opportunities.
  • Hours: 1
  • Credits: 0
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Introduction to Cheese and History
FOOD1560

Description: This course will introduce to the students the origins and history of cheese from the old world to the new world. The students will be familiarized with some varieties of cheese and tasting.
  • Hours: 14
  • Credits: 1
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Introduction to Cheese Making and Process
FOOD1570

Description: This hands-on course will introduce the principle of cheese making and the various process steps from milk receiving to packaging.
  • Hours: 28
  • Credits: 2
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Applied Dairy Chemistry
FOOD1580

Description: The student will be initiated to the concept of chemistry as applied to milk and dairy products. The topics covered will relate to the milk composition, pH, acidity and quality control when receiving raw milk. The composition analysis of milk and dairy product will be covered.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Starter Cultures, Coagulants and Other Ingredients
FOOD1590

Description: This course will expose the fundamentals of various dairy starters and their functionalities. The students will understand coagulant and other ingredients used during the various cheese manufacturing from hard cheese to soft cheese. Other topics will include the production of in house starter and Direct Vat Set starter cultures. The students will be exposed to the understanding of the development of phages produced by starter cultures and how to control them in a cheese manufacturing plant.
  • Hours: 28
  • Credits: 2
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Cheese Technology
FOOD1600

Description:

This course will cover all aspects of cheese production. The technology and process of various type of cheese will be coved in class setting as well as in the pilot cheese processing facility.

  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Advanced Food Safety Training
FOOD1610

Description: This course is a Canadian management advanced level food safety program. Safe food production and handling is critical in the food and cheese making industry. The course centres on the role of food production, foodservice and the responsibilities of food retail leaders in measuring risks, setting policies, and training and supervising employees. Students will study Food safety hazards, employee hygiene, temperature control, safe food handling during preparation and service, HAACP systems, cleaning, sanitizing, regulatory agency standards and requirements.
  • Hours: 28
  • Credits: 2
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Milk Pasteurization and Process Control
FOOD1620

Description: The students will learn how to operate the cheese production process units in particular the milk pasteurizer and its process control unit. The students will apply the operation of all process units for various cheese manufacturing. Some of these processes include milk separators, homogenizer, pasteurization, sterilization, cheese vat operation, molding and packaging.
  • Hours: 28
  • Credits: 2
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Cheese Sensory Evaluation
FOOD1630

Description: This course will enable the students to learn various methods for cheese and dairy products sensory evaluation, such as flavour, smell, colour, texture. It will enable students to analyse and interpret the sensory evaluation of cheese that is required for cheese grading and cheese defects.
  • Hours: 14
  • Credits: 1
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:
Electives: General Education
Student must pass 1 Course(s), selected in the Student Portal from available course options

Level 2

Course details

Mechanization of Cheese Making Technology
FOOD1640

Description: The students will be exposed to the industrial mechanization of the modern production of cheese. The students will explore the new technology of cheese production for the 21st century and beyond in one of the modern and ''state of art cheese factories.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Fundamentals of Cheese Grading and Quality
FOOD1650

Description: This course will cover the principles and practices used in grading natural cheeses. The students will learn the fundamentals of the assessment of cheese quality. The course will be structured around the cheese grading standards covered by Agriculture Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Cheeses used in the grading lab sessions will be selected to show the majority of flavour, body, texture, colour and appearance defects.
  • Hours: 56
  • Credits: 4
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Methods of Cheese Aging
FOOD1660

Description: This course will focus on the various methods of aging, curing and ripening of various type of cheeses from hard, semi hard and soft cheeses. The students will learn the methods, processes and controls to obtain quality cured, ripened and aged cheese for the consumers.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Whey, Whey Utilization, Water and Waste Management
FOOD1670

Description: This course will explore the importance of whey in a cheese manufacturing plant and its utilization. The students will be able to explain the main steps in water and waste management and treatment as important to cheese processing operations.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Applied Dairy Microbiology
FOOD1680

Description: This course will enable the students to gain some knowledge in micro-organisms in food (bacteria, yeast, mold and virus).The course will focus on dairy microbiology, the micro-organisms found in milk and their role in milk alteration, spoilage as well as their beneficial effect in cheese manufacturing. The students will apply laboratory methods of sampling, detection and enumeration of these micro-organisms associated with milk and cheese.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Leadership and Human Resources
HRM1410

Description: In this course the students will learn the roles, the responsibility and notions of human resources. He will learn useful tools to supervise employees like talent management. The students will explore some simulation on how to manage complaints, work relationship in a workforce in constant evolutions.
  • Hours: 42
  • Credits: 3
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Marketing, Merchandizing and Promotion
MKT1520

Description: This course will enable the students to familiarize with basis concept of marketing. The students will understand the customer position and how marketing will contribute to economic system.
  • Hours: 28
  • Credits: 2
  • Pre-Requisites:
  • CoRequisites:

Program outcomes

  1. Examine the basic science of cheese production, bacterial culture categories and milk production to address basic quality, technical and operational problems relating to cheese body and texture defects.
  2. Apply food processing, quality control and quality assurance principles and practices to the manufacture of safe and high-quality cheese products according to specifications.
  3. Demonstrate safe manufacturing and food safety practices during the cheese making process.
  4. Support the goals of the dairy operation and the responsible use of resources by working in compliance with dairy plant management principles, health and safety legislation and established organizational practices.
  5. Perform tasks responsibly and effectively in accordance with relevant legislation, policies, procedures, standards, regulations, environment protection and ethical principles.
  6. Analyze key components, operational steps, cultures and equipment needed to produce safe quality cheese.
  7. Interact with others as a team member to enhance operational performance and to contribute to the success of a cheese making operation.
  8. Develop ongoing personal professional development strategies and plans to enhance leadership and management skills for the cheese making industry.
  9. Examine cheese varieties and the historical evolution of their methods of production to support quality and product range improvements in typical cheese manufacturing operations.