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Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Research

Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Research
Open Access

ISSN: 2593-9173

Mini Review - (2023)Volume 14, Issue 4

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Review on Handling, Hygienic Practices and Microbial Qualities of Raw Milk In Ethiopia

Abera Teshome Aleli*
 
*Correspondence: Dr. Abera Teshome Aleli, Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, Ambo University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Ambo, Ethiopia, Email:

Author info »

Abstract

This article had reviewed several research papers and collected information and tracked up. The review revealed that most of the dairy men have the perception that bad quality milk affects the health wellbeing of human (consumers). But the main problem concerned with the hygienic practice is that there is no standard (clear cut point) to be followed by the smallholder dairy producers. The producers do right what they perceive correct enough to keep the quality like washing their hand before milking without detergents and sanitizers. This review found also that the smallholder in most parts of the country do no sterilize the milk utensils even they do not wash. But in some cases they use their indigenous knowledge like fumigation and smoking.

Keywords

Minerals; Sanitation; Milk; Preservation; Fermentation; Hygiene

Introduction

Background and justification

Milk as in this article perhaps defined as “the eadable fluid collected from the mammary cells of mammalian animals. It is very nutritious and complete diet which is preferred to peoples of all age, O’Mahony described milk as it is the source energy, protein, fat, micro and macro minerals in addition to vitamins as a result of which it is considered as perfect food [1]. People started the utilization of milk during ancient time. The fermentation of cow milk begun with the aim of curbing the lactose intolerance by herd men [2].

Many authors for example, summarized that milk preservation utensils in country side are usually prepared from locally available materials [3,4]. To prepare quality fermented milk, farm sanitation, personal hygiene and routine activities have to be taken into consideration. The physicochemical and microbial qualities of milk are improved by cleaning cows’ teat and udder, hygienic milking and milk handling from pollution free farm.

Milk is the most perishable of all farm output products. Contrary to other animal origin produce, milk is continuously harvested and consumed either fresh or after fermented which is perhaps produced from unhygienic farm. In tropics the environmental conditions are also conducive for milk spoilage. According to Quigley, microbes which can either harm the milk consumer or use in milk processing and natural fermentation get into milk from various bases [5]. Swai reported that the decision that expresses whether milk quality is good or bad is made based on its chemical constituent and standard of hygiene at milk parlour, storage and handling facilities including cleanliness of the udder of the individual animal [6]. Production of milk and various milk products under unsanitary conditions and poor production practices can exert both a public health and economic constraints.

Milk quality is paramount important for the consumer and also for milk processing plants. It is very serious as it has associated risk factors with the health of the consumer. There were ample studies done on the microbial and physicochemical properties of milk. At the same time as consumers are very sensitive to dairy products it requires updated information. Hence this paper was aimed to plug out these gaps.

Literature Review

The objective of this review was to inspect information on the physicochemical qualities and microbial properties of fresh milk.

Milking hygienic practices and handling

Sanitation is of paramount important issue in the sector of producing milk because it directly concerned with the healthy well-being of the dairy product consumers. The absence of standard hygienic condition practiced by producers which probably vary based on production system, adapted practices, experience and availability of resources during milk production is the primary unhygienic dairy end products. In almost all parts of the Ethiopia milking takes place by hand [7]. According to Lencho and Seblewongel, all of the dairy producers in the Bishoftu town, milking is done by hand majority of the producers wash their hand with water, milking takes place in the barn with the absence of cleaning the barn. The result of the finding of Yeserah which was conducted in Bahirdar city indicated that, about 85.8% of milk producers wash their hand before milking, 28.3% clean the milking area before milking and only 14.1 wash the udder before milking and most of them (74.6%) do not dry their hand [8].

Kibebew et al., concluded that nearly eighty-nine percent of the interviewed farmers responded that they use low quality bedding which could affect qualities of milk and its products [9]. Barret and Larkin had drawn conclusion that, if you wash cows’ udder prior milking you can remove dirty materials not bacteria existing with cows’ external body. Farmers perceive that teat could be cleaned by letting suckling. In order to maintain high milk quality, personal hygiene is must. There should be proper wearing and personal hygiene provided that they are free of person to person transmitting disease [10]. Kebede found that unhealthy milk harvesting and no or poor postharvest technology affects milk quality at large and; children in the pastoral areas directly consume (suckle) from unclean teats as their babies do [11]. In addition to this they deny boiling milk as they believe it kills milk nutrient and for what they call ‘dead milk’. This can be summarized with the following diagram (Figure 1).

hygienic

Figure 1: Milking hygienic practices and handling.

Milker hygienic practices

According to Fernandes, milk is extremely perishable and easily gets spoiled, loses its quality and safety shortly unless preserved hygienically [12].

• Hand washing and drying during milking

• Washing and sterilizing utensils

• Washing and drying udder

Hand washing and drying: The first step that most dairy cow milking procedure follows is washing hand and drying with towels. Milk easily undergoes perish due to its conducive composition due to this attention should be given both during preservation and transportation (Table 1) [10].

Hygienic practices sources in percent
S. No. Washing  hand Wash udder before milking Dry udder with towel Wash utensils Source
1 85.8 36 9.6 - [8]
2 66.1 48.8 23.6 - [9]
3 77.2 82.5 48.1 - [13]
4 1.6 0.8 98.4 [14]
5 100 24 9.7 - [15]
6 89.1 - - 100 [16]
7 92.2 37.3 21 92.2 [17]
8 52.5 100 [18]
9 100 100 54 100 -
10 150 0 0 73.33 [19]
11 60 60 60 [20]
12 58 35.8 35 [21]
13 97.5 95.8 93.3 [19]
14 97.5 82.4 95.8 [22]
15 100 62 [23]

Table 1: Hygienic practices regarding milkmen and equipment cleanliness.

From the above table which collects results of different authors, there was variation with regards to washing their hand as some of them did not do. There were differences among udder hygienic practices, drying and sterilizing. Most of the respondents use plastic and stainless steel in rare case in areas around cities and towns while traditionally prepared equipment in rural parts of Ethiopia during milking and preservation.

Milk handling utensils and hygiene

Milk handling is the most important factor that determines the qualities of dairy products even after processing. The pre and postharvest hygienic standard of milk preservation determines the degree of contamination of fresh milk with pathogens. Absence of freezing preservation services at smallholder dairy farmers in the rural and pastoral area with conducive environmental conditions denotes that fresh milk simply get into spoilage [24]. Milking and milk storage equipment have to be correctly washed and dried in an upturned position before use to minimize contamination due to equipment. Additionally, it is better to use utensils which do not easily rust and simple to inspect and clean (Table 2).

Handling and transporting equipment (%)
S. No. Plastic Clay pot Stainless steel Other Source
1 100 - - - -
2 84 4.6 - 9.4 [8]
3 83 7 10 [9]
4 81.96 1.46 16 [14]
5 84 16 - - [21]
6 95.2 4.2 0.8 [19]
7 64.6 6.67 28.9 [23]
8 33.3 55.6 -

Table 2: Reflection on handling and transporting equipment.

From the above Table 2, it can be summarized that dairy producers mostly use plastic containers for handling and transportation because of its easiness to use and simplicity to move it from place to place as it is not that much fragile.

Discussion

Status of microbiological quality of raw milk

The status of microbial load of fresh milk in Ethiopia from different regions was given in Table 3 below. Milk is a typical mammary secretion acquired from mammals that did not undergo processing or didn’t receive any type of treatment. According to codex, fresh milk is well-defined as milk, which has not been heated further or undergone any treatment that have an equivalent effect stained from one or more milking without adding foreign materials removing its constituent like fat that is needed for marketing, home consumption or further processing [25]. Raw milk consists of microorganisms that experience proliferation when inappropriately preserved. Some of the microbes in raw milk of healthy animals are neither pathogen nor useful however it becomes possibly dangerous when certain condition that related with animal health or post-harvest milk contaminants [26]. According to Chatterjee et al., Health of the animal, sanitation of the barn, feed and water qualities, the equipment, personal hygiene are most significant factors that speed up microbial spoilage of fresh milk this idea is also supported by Ali and Abdelgadir (Table 3) [27,28].

Level of each microorganism in (log10 cfu/mL)
S/N CC TBC YMC Area of study Source
1 - - 9.82 SNNPR garage -
2 7.54 7.25 Holeta -
3 9.81 7.09 SNNPR Mizan -
4 3.7 5.71 3.16 Sibu sire (Oromia) [20]
5 4.82 6.21 3.9 Meta (Oromia) [14]
6 5.85 5.15 Mersa (Wollo) [21]
7 4.49 7.58 Bahirdar (Amhara) [29]
8 6.32 8.16 5.29   -

Table 3: Summary of level of each microorganism in (log10 cfu/mL).

From the above Table 3, it can be generalized that most of the authors use total bacterial count, coliform count unit and yeast and mould count as parameters to measure the bacterial loads within milk.

Source of milk hazardous microbes

Milk microbes usually gets into milk from sick animals, poor absence of sanitation of barn, poor personal hygiene, equipment, feed and polluted water source for drinking water or routine practices of farm [30]. As de Buyser et al., stated, microbes are originated from milk and milk products represent two to six percent of food-borne epidemics. Mitiku et al., stated that the consumption of contaminated milk results in sickness. The primary milk born pathogen is consuming milk of unhealthy wow, unclean farm worker, equipment, farm, milking parlour or processing [14].

Impact of unsafe milk

Livestock and its derivatives (livestock by-products) are using as the sources of basic diets in human neutrino from ancient time. Pathogenic milk microbes are health intimidating, FAO. Negash et al., stated that the wellbeing of dairy goods with regards to foodborne diseases is a great anxiety globally, particularly in developing nations [31]. Unsafe milk is forced either to be withdrawn or need further treatment which is costly and affects the profitability of the dairy farm.

Conclusion

In order for the fermented milk to be obtained, it is must to keep and produce high quality milk at farm level. The quality of milk is paramount important for the consumer and also for milk processing plants. It is very serious as it has associated risk factors with consumers’ healthy. There is no clear cut point (specific guideline) with regards to hygiene to be practiced by dairy producers in Ethiopia. Generally, the hygienic level and qualities of milk in Ethiopia is poor which resulted in higher load of milk microbes. Due to these facts, the sector needs intervention in awareness creation and training whether it is short or long term as possible.

References

Author Info

Abera Teshome Aleli*
 
Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, Ambo University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Ambo, Ethiopia
 

Citation: Aleli AT (2023) Review on Handling, Hygienic Practices and Microbial Qualities of Raw Milk in Ethiopia. J Agri Sci and Food Res. 14:160

Received: 20-Nov-2023, Manuscript No. JBFBP-23-27000; Editor assigned: 22-Nov-2023, Pre QC No. JBFBP-23-27000 (PQ); Reviewed: 07-Dec-2023, QC No. JBFBP-23-27000; Revised: 14-Dec-2023, Manuscript No. JBFBP-23-27000 (R); Published: 21-Dec-2023 , DOI: 10.35248/2593-9173.23.14.160

Copyright: © 2023 Aleli AT. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

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