Health hazards especially in Milk

Similar to all other food types, milk and milk products can cause food-borne illness.

The quality of milk can be affected by such factors as pathogen contamination and growth, chemical additives, environmental pollution and nutrient degradation.

Microbiological hazards are a major food safety concern in the dairy sector because milk is an ideal medium for the growth of bacteria and other microbes.

These can be introduced into the milk from the environment or from the dairy animals themselves.

Milk can contain harmful microorganisms such as?Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolitis, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, Mycobacterium bovis, Brucella abortus?and?Brucella melitensis.

Chemical hazards can be unintentionally introduced into milk and milk products, making them unsafe and unsuitable for consumption.

Milk can be contaminated when the milking animals consume feed and/or water that contain chemicals.

?Other causes of contamination may be inadequate control of equipment, the environment and milk storage facilities.

Chemical hazards include detergents, teat disinfectants, dairy sanitizers, anti-parasitics, antibiotics, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.

Disclaimer:?The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensure discussion or debate.

Thankyou....Milk composition

Milk provides essential nutrients and is an important source of dietary energy, high-quality proteins and fats.

?Milk can make a significant contribution to the required nutrient intakes for calcium, magnesium, selenium, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and pantothenic acid.

Milk and milk products are nutrient-dense foods and their consumption can add diversity to plant-based diets. Animal milk can play an important role in the diets of children in populations with very low fat intakes and limited access to other animal source foods.

The species of dairy animal, its breed, age and diet, along with the stage of lactation, parity (number of parturitions), farming system, physical environment and season influence the colour, flavour and composition of milk and allow the production of a variety of milk products:

Cow milk:?Fat constitutes approximately 3 to 4 percent of the solid content of cow milk, protein about 3.5 percent and lactose 5?percent, but the gross chemical composition of cow milk varies depending on the breed.

For example, the fat content is usually higher in?Bos indicus?than?B. taurus?cattle. The fat content of milk from?B. indicus?cattle can be as much as 5.5 percent.

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Buffalo milk?has a very high fat content, which is on average twice as high as that of cow milk. The fat-to-protein ratio in buffalo milk is about 2:1. Compared with cattle milk, buffalo milk also has a higher casein-to-protein ratio. The high calcium content of casein facilitates cheese making.

Sheep milk?has higher fat and protein contents than goat and cow milk; only buffalo and yak milk contain more fat.

Sheep milk also generally has a higher lactose content than milk from cows, buffaloes and goats. The high protein and overall solid contents of sheep milk make it particularly appropriate for cheese and yoghurt making.

?Milk from sheep is important in the Mediterranean region, where most of it is processed into cheeses such as pecorino, caciocavallo and feta.

Goat milk?has a similar composition to cow milk. In Mediterranean countries and in Latin America, goat milk is generally transformed into cheese; in Africa and South Asia, it is usually consumed raw or acidified.

Milk processors produce a wide range of milk products:

Liquid milk?is the most consumed, processed and marketed dairy product. Liquid milk includes products such as?pasteurized milk, skimmed milk, standardized milk, reconstituted milk, ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk and fortified milk. Worldwide, less and less liquid milk is consumed in its raw form.

Fermented milks?are commonly used to make other milk products. They are obtained from the fermentation of milk using suitable microorganisms to reach a desired level of acidity. Fermented products include yoghurt, koumiss, dahi, labneh, ergo, tarag, kurut and kefir.

Cheeses?are produced through the coagulation of milk protein (casein), which is separated from the milk’s whey.

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Hundreds of varieties of cheese are produced, many of them being characteristic to a particular region of the globe. However, most cheese is produced in developed countries.

Cheese can be soft, hard, semi-hard, hard ripened or unripened. Cheese’s diverse characteristics derive from differences in the compositions and types of milk, processes applied and microorganisms used.

Butter and ghee?are fatty milk products. Butter is produced by churning milk or cream; in many developing countries, traditional butter is obtained by churning sour whole milk.

Ghee is obtained by removing the water from butter and is especially popular in South Asia. Ghee has a very long shelf-life of up to two years.

Condensed milk?is obtained from the partial removal of water from whole or skimmed milk. Processing includes heat-treating and concentration.

Condensed milk can be sweetened or unsweetened, but most is sweetened. In Latin America, for example, condensed milk is often used in cooking and baking instead of jam.

Evaporated milks?result from the partial removal of water from whole or skimmed milk. Processing includes heat-treating to make the milk bacteriologically safe and stable. Evaporated milks are generally mixed with other foods, such as in milky tea.

Dry milk or milk powder?is obtained from the dehydration of milk and is usually in the form of powder or granules.

Cream?is the part of milk that is comparatively rich in milk fat; it is extracted by skimming or centrifuging the milk.

Cream products include recombined cream, reconstituted cream, prepared creams, pre-packaged liquid cream, whipping cream, cream packed under pressure, whipped cream, fermented cream and acidified cream.

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