Clean Milk Production and Methods of clean milk Production

Clean Milk Production :

Clean milk may be defined as milk coming from healthy milch cows or buffaloes, possessing good flavour, devoid of dirt and filth, containing relatively small number of bacteria and essentially free from pathogens and safe for human consumption.

Methods of clean milk production:

1. Health of the herd:The herd should be free from pathogens that might be spread to human beings through the milk like tuberculosis.The animals should be periodically checked in every year particularly for all types of contagious diseases.
2. Clean animals: The milker should clean the flanks and udders of cows just prior to milking to prevent dirt from getting into the milk. Udder,Washed and wiped with clean towel soaked in antiseptic solution and kept dry at milking time. 
3. The milkers cleanliness: Milker should be free from communicable diseases and must be of clean habits as will be noted from their clean hands, clean clothes, trimmed nails and clean habits i.e. do not spit around or talk while milking. Hands should be washed with 200 ppm chlorine solution before milking.
4. Clean surroundings: The place at which the animal is tied at milking time /barn should be clean with water before milking. Dairy barn should be white washed, free of cobwebs, bad odour and well ventilated.
5. Clean utensils: Milking utensils should be clean and free from pathogens. Best way to achieve this is to rinse the utensils immediately after use. The utensils should be washed with warm water containing a suitable detergent. Soap should not be used for cleaning utensils as it leaves a greasy film.
6. The type of milk pan: Milking pails with small open top / dome shaped top should be used instead of open buckets or vessels during milking.

Clean, sterilized, stainless steel or galvanized iron metal utensils should be used for storage of the milk.
7.Control flies: Spraying of insecticides should be done in cattle shed and on animal body, to control external parasites/ectoparasites like ticks, lice, flies and thereby keeps animal healthy. It is important to dairy men, since they can carry typhoid, dysentery and other contagious disease
8.Filteration Of milk:  Straining of milk is done to remove sediment and other foreign materials in the milk. Milk strainer or muslin cloth should be used for straining of milk. If muslin cloth
is used, it should be washed and dried daily otherwise dirty cloth will spoil the quality of milk.
9.Feeding:
An concentrate mixture feeding should be offered to animal during milking for calm and convenient milking.
10. Cooling and storage of milk:
Freshiy drawn milk is at about 38°C which is highly suited for bacterial growth. Therefore milk should be rapidly cooled to below 10°C.