Milk-and-Dairy-Products-in-Human-Nutrition-FAO

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Milk and dairy products in human nutrition
producers have to walk to markets; hence, milk may be stored at high temperatures
for several hours and may be further contaminated from human or environmental
sources. In these circumstances the risk of spoilage and of increased pathogen
loads is high. This can be further compounded where the weather is warm and
infrastructure and refrigeration facilities at retail outlets are limited. It is imperative
that practical methods are applied to preserve and protect the milk during transport
and storage.
The challenge facing policy makers is to balance the objectives of consumer
protection, safe food and livelihood security. This requires evidence-based methods
that assess the risks posed by dairy products originating in the informal sector and
determining how to manage these risks in ways that consider both health and economic
protection of the poorer farmers and traders who constitute the majority of
the dairy sector (Grace et al., 2006). Regulations, management strategies and control
measures need to be appropriate with the end objective of ensuring the safety of
the product and consumer health protection. This includes consideration of cost
effectiveness. This is discussed further in the following section.
6.5 Control and prevention: implementing safe food practices
The ability of a country to prevent and address outbreaks of food-borne diseases
is influenced by the maturity and capacity of the national food control system,
the prevailing conditions within the farming and food-processing sectors, and the
practices and capacities of food-chain operators. Responsible authorities must have
a policy and legislative framework for food safety and quality, adequate infrastructure
and properly trained inspectors and personnel in place if they are to function
effectively. This should provide a coordinated and a preventive approach to foodsafety
management along milk and dairy-product chains. Food-safety decisions and
policies should be based on an understanding of the priority risks associated with
milk and dairy products in the national milk and dairy sector. Working with dairy
farmers and milk and dairy processors is essential to identify appropriate control
measures and ensure their application at the most effective part of the chain. Different
countries, different dairy products and different production environments give
rise to a range of diverse situations. Examples of the diversity of the type of contexts
food-safety policy-makers may need to address include the following:
• a rapid and significant increase in a country’s dairy production (e.g. China,
where production increased from 10 million tonnes in 2001 to an estimated
39 million tonnes in 2009) can place additional needs on quality and safety
control systems (USDA, 2008);
• the existence of an informal market, common and important in many
developing countries, characterized by small-scale production, large number
of producers, lack of cold-chain market pathways, in which raw milk is
sold to the consumer who then boils it, and which is subject to little or no
regulatory control (Omore et al., 2001);
• addressing the risk of antimicrobial residues in milk, which may require
attention to milk-production practices employed by farmers and use of
antimicrobials, programmes for testing of residues at milk collection centres
and associated action.