Milking is the key operation on a dairy farm; on
it depends the income derived.
Maintenance of clean condition in the milking
barn results both in better udder health and production of milk that
remains wholesome for longer time.
Therefore the milk producers should strictly follow
the following guidelines for clean milk production.
Cleanliness of animal sheds
The floor should be impervious, non-slippery and
reveled.
The milking barn should be thoroughly washed and
sobbed after each milking so that the barn will be clean and dry, before
the subsequent milking is commenced
Cleanliness of cows
The health condition of cows should be regularly
examined. Milking should be carried out first to healthy cows followed
by diseased ones.
The hind quarters and thighs of cows should be
brushed and washed if lot of filth is accumulating on them.
Just before milking the udder should be wiped
with a cloth dipped and squeezed in some weak antiseptic solution.
Cleanliness of milkers and milking pails
The milkers should wear clean dress and cover
their heads with suitable caps, last loose hairs may fall in milk
Milkers nails should be well trimmed and their
hands clean and disinfected between each milking by washing in antiseptic
solution.
Milkers obviously ill and haring filthy habits
like spitting, blowing nose etc. should not be used.
After each milking the milking pails should first
be washed with warm water, scrubbed well using suitable dairy sanitizer
and then rinsed well with clean cold water.
A milk strainer should invariably be used
poured into the milking can.
The milk must be squeezed and not dragged
out of teats.
The first few strips of milk from each teat
should be let on to a strip-cup to see clues in milk for possible
incidence of mastitis.
Milk forms an important constituent of diet. Regarding
quality of milkcertain standards have been set up in order to pass it
for human consimption.
According to it, cow milk should have 3.5% fat,
8.5% SNF whereas buffalo milk should contain 5% fat and 9% SNF.
In order to test the quality of milk the following
tests are being conducted in the milk collection centers
Tests for colour, taste and odour
Colour
The colour of milk get changed due to adulteration.
Milk with abnormal colour is not fit for human
consumption.
Taste
Milk should have normal taste. Milk with bitter
or
sour taste are generally not considered to be fit
for human consumption.
Odour
Milk should have normal odour.
Testing of fat content in milk
Estimation of fat content is being done during
collection of milk from the producers.
Normally Gurber’s method is being followed which
is considered to be the traditional method. But recently Electronic
milk tester is being used in many parts of the country.
SNF can be defined as the remaining constituents
of milk other than fat. They are tested by using lactometer.
Fixation of price to milk is being done by taking
into consideration both fat and SNF content of milk.
Reasons for fluctuations of fat & SNF content in milk
Breed variation
Inversely related to the age of the animal
Fat content of milk decreases when the animal is
frightened or if it is suffering from any disease
Fat content increases from 15 days after calving
till 9 months.
Fat content increases following slight exercise.
To get the remunerative price for the producers
Adulteration of milk with water should never be
done
Never supply milk to the societies, which follow
malpractices regarding measurement.
Supply milk to the societies, which pay according
to the fat content of milk.
Milk mainly contains fat and solids (SNF). This solid
contains Carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals etc. Milk is very
essential food item, which is highly nutritious. The fat and SNF content
types of milk as per food adulteration control act are given in the
table of different below.
Name of the milk
Minimum fat content( %)
Mimimum SNF (%)
Buffalo milk
6.0
9.0
Cow milk
3.5
8.5
Mixed milk
4.5
8.5
Full cream milk
6.0
9.0
S.T.D
4.5
8.5
Tonned milk
3.0
8.5
Double tonned milk
1.5
9.0
Stemmed milk
0.5
8.7
Why do people adeltrate milk
Milk contains natural high quality nutrients. So people
try to adulterate these nutrients with other food items of low quality
to make more money by selling the milk.
EXAMPLES
Dalda and vegetable oil is added to increase fat
content
Sugar, maida flour, urea, salt etc are added to increase
SNF.
Water is added to milk to increase quantity.
Removing the fat from milk.
Effect of adeltration
We will not get the quality milk for quality we
are paying.
We will not get required nutrition from milk.
Through contamination we may spoil our health.
Why the milk spoils
Milk quality deteriorates very fast because the
microorganisms enter the milk if milk is handles in un hygienic condition.
These microorganisms utilize the nutrients for their
growth thus spoiling the milk quality.
The milk quality starts detoriating from the time it
is milked from the animal.
How to maintain milk quality
The farmer should produce milk in hygienic conditions.
Clean utensils should be used for milking.
The milk should be chilled to below 5 C as early as
possible.
Such chilled milk should be sending for processing.
Hear the milk should be pasteurized and kept in cold
condition.
Such milk should be packed and send to the consumer.
By taking the above steps the milk will be infection
free, clean and wholesome.
From villages milk has to be transported long distances
to reach cities, which involves lot of expenses and efforts. They will
not used clean utensils, they will not handle in hygienic conditions.
So the milk tends to spoil early.
How people prevent spoilage of milk
They mix water with milk.
To prevent growth of the micros, which entered due to
un hygienic practices, they add chemicals like hydrogen peroxide.
To avoid milk spoilage they add some alkalis like baking
soda, washing soda, caustic soda etc.
By consuming the above milk with high bacterial
load we may get diseases like cholera, typhoid, loose motions etc. The
chemicals, which are added to milk also, have some deleterious effect
on health like intestinal ulcers, kidney stones, allergy, cancer etc.
