DAIRY SANITATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 February 1940, Page 10

DAIRY SANITATION

NEED TO ENSURE PURITY OF MILK. . DANGERS OF CARELESSNESS. Although most dairy farmers have learned the value of quality stock, many have failed to realise the greater importance of maintaining a perfect standard of sanitation and hygiene in handling the production of their quality herds. Carelessness in the dairy may produce a bacterial growth which greatly and rapidly depreciated the market values of the product. The ideal condition is that in which milk may be transferred from the cow to the can without exposure to possible sources of contamination, because every speck of dust that becomes attached to equipment or falls into milk is a potential carrier of bacteria, and as soon as the micro-organism enters the milk the process of deterioration begins. In the absence of this perfect system, effective and regular sterilisation of equipment is the farmer’s best safeguard. More general use of milking machines is an important factor in ensuring an improved hygienic standard, but only where the operators realise that the equipment must be given scrupulous attention. Increasing use of concrete in yards and dairies is another safeguard against, the accumulation of possible sources of infection. Cleanliness should begin with the overalls worn by the milker. These should be worn only during milking, and not used in other farm work. They should be washed regularly and kept in the dairy. The milker's hands should be rinsed in. sterilising solution, and floors of both yards and dairies should be washed down with a similar solution. Heat —steam and water —is the most effective steriliser for the dairy equipment. Before it is applied, however, a powerful detergent should be used to remove every trace of grease or other milk residue. To kill all germs, the equipment should then be immersed in boiling water or held for a few minutes over a steam jet. Apart altogether from hygienic considerations. a high standard of dairy sanitation is economic, because the cost is more than offset by the saving in milk and the retardation of bacterial deterioration, and an efficient heatcleansing system will prolong the life of the equipment.