Farmers are trained on
Clean Collection of Milk
Out of the 1.8 crore litres of milk produced in Maharashtra, around 95 lakh litres come from the organised sector comprising of the Government, Cooperative Societies and Private segments. The contribution by the government to the daily milk supply is around 3-4%, by the Cooperatives is 35-36% and the rest over 60% is from the private segment. Standing sixth in the country, after UP, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat, Maharashtra has approximately 310 dairies of which 245 are in the private sector. “Earlier, the government used to be the main supplier of milk for daily consumption. But today, most of it comes from the private suppliers,” said Dairy Development Commissioner and MD of MRSDMM (Maharashtra) RD Shinde.
As a general practice milk goes passes through three levels before being taken up for processing. Milk is collected at the village level through the primary cooperative societies and sent to the chilling centres where it is tested, pasteurized and chilled before being distributed to various dairies. “We have two laboratories where the milk goes through various tests before being released. The labs are equipped with fully automated systems which reduce manual handling and give more accurate results. The chilling centres are also equipped with the scientific and automated testing system – AMCU (automated milk collection unit) – to perform preliminary tests the milk. The milk received is checked for a minimum of 3.5gm fat and 8.5% SNF (solid non fat) in one litre. What is received is basically cow’s milk. The price of the milk is determined according to the fat and SNF.”
In order to ensure clean practices, the cooperative societies at the village level train the framers on personal hygiene, cowshed cleaning, cattle care and clean collection of milk. The farmers are provided with milk collection cans and also taught to keep those clean. “As soon as the milk is collected, it is chilled at the cooperative society and sent to the chilling centre. These centres are located close to the cooperative societies so that the milk once collected is chilled at below 4oC and tested for 21 parameters.”
There is at least one society in each village. “These societies cool the milk and transport it to the chilling centre where it is tested and then sent to the dairy. It is then distributed in clean packages. Hence, the cold chain is mandatory at every level from the village level to the dairy level until it goes to the end consumer. The booth holders too have coolers where they maintain the 4°C temperature.”
In Maharashtra, there are 117 chilling centres – 67 state owned ones and 50 at the cooperative society level. At every level, there is auditing conducted. “Besides the FDA audit, the central government does occasionally MMP (milk and milk products) audit of the government dairies. At the private sector level, the Quality control officers of the Dairy Development Authority visit the dairies periodically.
Around 10% of the milk produced is diverted to the production of other products like Shrikhand, flavoured milk, curd and ghee.
Even a city like Mumbai requires 50-60 lakh litres per day of which Mahanand supplies only five lakh litres and Amul around six lakhs. Left over milk is converted to milk powder which is sent for animal consumption.
Maintaining Mahanand
Located in Goregaon, close to the Aarey Milk Colony, is the Government owned Mahanand Dairy Farm. All the milk coming to the gates of Mahanand is subjected to tests before being accepted. The milk in the tankers is stirred continuously with the help of a milk-plunger for about 40 times so that the fat gets thoroughly mixed with the milk. Thereafter, the tanker is given a code number and the milk sample is sent for online testing for lactose content, gravity, density of the milk and other tests. A swab test followed by sampling test is conducted before it is sent for further processing.
“To curb milk adulteration, a sodium analyzer test is also conducted at the lab. If the sodium content in the milk crosses the 550ppm limit, it is rejected and regarded as adulterated milk,” said RJ Aklekar, Deputy Manager-Quality Control, Mahanand Dairy.
Besides checking the milk for contamination, the staff and the surrounding areas are also subjected to stringent cleanliness and hygiene checks. The staff entering inside the premises is thoroughly frisked for cigarette, paan and other stuff which are strictly prohibited inside the dairy. This initiative by the dairy authorities is believed to have drastically reduced littering and spitting inside the dairy unit and even in the premises.
Mahanand has outsourced part of the cleaning activities to Mumbai based Alert Private Services. As per the contract schedules, deep cleaning of the dairy manufacturing unit, washrooms and administration area is done during the weekends. Alert Services is using green chemicals of Rutu Bio-systems Ltd. Innovative’s auto-scrubber, single disc and Taski vacuum cleaners are being used to clean the floor and other areas. High pressure jets are used for cleaning the milk tanks. The tanks are cleaned on a weekly basis. Alert has also introduced multi-purpose cleaner Sumo Multi for cleaning the floor, toilet and for glass cleaning.
Three critical areas – the quality control section, the dairy section and the washroom area – are manned constantly by different staff trained for the respective department. “At the production area, we had introduced plastic hand gloves and foot-printer few years back. However, the hand gloves were discontinued because minute plastic particles were traced in the processed products.Even the foot-printer which covers the shoes/footwear with a plastic cover/line had to be discontinued due to paucity of funds,” said Aklekar.
It is made mandatory for all staff members to use mask, cap and aprons and use IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) solution (hand sanitizer) before they enter the production unit. Approved by HACCP, the IPA solution has the ability to kill 75% of bacteria. A weekly swab test is also conducted on the food-handler for microbial count. To prevent food contamination, hand-dryers and hand wash have been installed in the washrooms.
The production process is semi-automatic, especially in the post pasteurization process, where milk powder/sugar is added to the chakka or hung curd to prepare Shrikhand.
Mahanand is HACCP and ISO:9001-2008 certified unit and has CIP systems installed by Tetra Pak, L&T and others. The production unit works in three shifts and after every shift, the machines are cleaned with caustic solution and nitric acid. The caustic solution is circulated at 68oC. This is followed by circulating the hot water at 80oC. The residue is automatically flushed out in this cleaning process. The dairy equipment parts are soaked in 75ppm iodine substitute solution. In order to check air quality, Mahanand has introduced air-sampler equipment of HiMedia Laboratories Pvt Ltd.
Preeti Swaminathan
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FSS Act – Milk Products
Butter
Butter is a fatty product exclusively derived from milk. Sodium chloride, cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria and some food additives (e.g. vegetable colours) are permitted. The proportion of milk fat in butter is normally specified in national legislation, and records should be checked to ensure that water is not being substituted for butter- fat.
Butter is generally stored at low temperature, but some organisms such as the mycobacteria brucella and staphylococci, can survive in it for a long time.
Clarified butter (ghee): Clarified butter or butter oil, which may be called ghee, a costly product used as a cooking medium in many countries. It is pure clarified fat derived solely from milk, curd, cooking butter or cream to which no colouring matter or preservative has been added; this is melted by heat and the clear supernatant poured off. Clarified butter should be free from animal fat, whey, vegetable oils and fats, and mineral oils. It keeps well without refrigeration even in warm weather. Samples should be collected for laboratory examination for freedom from admixture with cheaper oils or fats. On rare occasions, motor-oil or mineral grease has been mixed with ghee, resulting in serious poisoning among consumers.
The inspector should check the plant’s quality procedures if any, and look for the presence for potential adulterants in the premises. He should check sanitation and the hygienic practices of employees in the plant.
Ghee substitutes: These are normally made from refined edible vegetables oils and their hydrogenated products, and may contain certain antioxidants and flavouring agents. Regulations in the countries where ghee substitutes are most widely used generally require the presence of not more than 5 percent of sesame oil, giving a standard colour in the Baudouin reaction and a prescribed amount of Vitamin A.
Cream
The main problem is filth and decomposition in the cream itself; however, general plant sanitation is also important. The inspector should examine the surface of the cream in the container visually for filth and insects. For more detailed examination, it may be desirable to filter an entire container of cream through a paper or a cloth filter. The filter should then be washed with hot water to remove the cream residue, and the material trapped on the filter examined for flies, maggots or other insects, and rodent’s excreta. The inspector should watch for milkstone build-up on equipment. This can be identified with an ultraviolet light; its presence indicated poor cleansing procedures.
Cheese
Generally, cheese is the fresh or matured product obtained by the draining after coagulation of milk, skim or partly skim milk, buttermilk, or a combination of some or all of these products. Wax or other materials used for covering the outer surface must not contain material harmful to health. Processed cheese is made by grinding, mixing, melting and emulsifying one or more varieties of cheese with the aid of heat and emulsifying agents, with or without the addition of permitted food addictives. Plants sanitation is of major importance. The inspector should check the adequacy of milk pasteurization operations. Containers of milk may be filtered through a paper or cloth filter to allow examination of the residue for filth and insects. Since many hand operations are used in the manufacture of cheese, employee’s hygienic practices and health conditions must be checked to reduce the possibility of bacterial contamination.
