Milk Quality

Question 1

Common milk born diseases

Answer 1

Salmonella
Campylobacter

Caused by unpasteurised milk

Question 2

What is the role of a vet in milk quality?

Answer 2

Data analysis - Bactoscan/TBC
Advice
Health plans/preventative help
Promote/monitor cow cleanliness
Review and monitor milking routines

Question 3

Name 2 methods of antibiotic residue testing

Answer 3

inhibitor detection - delvotest
Immunological based tests - IDEXX snap

Question 4

Sources of bacteria in milk

Answer 4

Bacteria from environment
Mastitis infections
Poor plant wash up routine - contaminates next batch
Bulk tank and cooling issues

Question 5

Methods of preventing environmental bacteria

Answer 5

Minimise poaching of gateways and around water
Minimum 3m^2 per cow of additional space
Sand bedding
Potable water treated with UV source used in parlour

Question 6

What is the most common cause of mastitis infections?

Answer 6

Streptococcus uberis
staphylococcus uberis

Question 7

How to avoid mastitis infections getting into bulk tank

Answer 7

Strip quarters before placing clusters to check
Have good teat prep routine (clean and dry treat, disinfect with predip)

Question 8

what is TBC/TVC

Answer 8

Total bacterial count/total viable count
Count of colonies growing on plate
Measures in CFU per ml

Question 9

What is bactoscan?

Answer 9

Automated count of viable and non-viable bacteria
Will always be higher than TBC
Will be penalised for high bactoscan

Question 10

What does qualitative bulk tank bacteriology tell you?

Answer 10

What bacteria is present?
May reflect one cow not the whole herd

Question 11

What does quantitative bulk tank bacteriology tell you?

Answer 11

How many organisms are present?
Present at different temperatures

Question 12

What does high coliform count tell you?

Answer 12

Likely environmental bacteria (from mastitis)
due to poor teat preparation

Question 13

What does high psychrotrophic count tell you?

Answer 13

Bacteria can survive at low temperatures
Poor bulk tank cleaning due to water contamination
Inadequate cooling of milk

Question 14

What does high thermoduric count tell you?

Answer 14

Bacteria can survive at high temperatures
Bacteria are surviving washing routine
Need to use hotter water - plant cleaning issue

Question 15

Where does pasteurisation occur?

Answer 15

At dairy processor not farm

Question 16

How can you tell if pasteurisation was successful?

Answer 16

ALP test
ALP should be inactivated by heat - should be negative

Question 17

What temp does milk need to reach and for how long?

Answer 17

71.7 for 15s then immediate cooling

Question 18

What temp does ice cream need to reach and for how long?

Answer 18

79.4 for 15s
Due to increased viscosity from high fat and solids content

Question 19

How does pasteurisation affect nutrition?

Answer 19

Insignificant affect

Question 20

What are the main health hazards from dairy products?

Answer 20

bTB
Campylobacter
Salmonella
Cryptosporidium
E coli
Listeria
Strep uberis
Staph aureus

Question 21

What is a good milk plant cleaning routine?

Answer 21

Warm rinse
Hot wash cycle
Alkaline detergent
Cold rinse

Question 22

What is the benefit of an alkaline detergent?

Answer 22

Prevents build up of milk fat residue

Question 23

What is an acid boil wash?

Answer 23

96 degrees
To remove ‘milk stone’

Question 24

What are the consequences of a poor pre-milking routine

Answer 24

Increased mastitis incidence - poor welfare
High TBC/TVC and bactoscan
Inefficient milk harvesting
teat end hyperkeratosis

Question 25

What do dirty legs on a cow indicate?

Answer 25

Faecal splashing from alleys
Inadequate cleaning
Inefficient space for cows

Question 26

What do dirty tails indicate on a cow?

Answer 26

Loose faces/too small cubicles

Question 27

what do dirty flanks indicate on a cow?

Answer 27

Poor lying surface management
Inadequate bedding
Heavily soiled straw yards

Question 28

What are the minimum standards for raw milk

Answer 28

Negative for salmonella
<100 coliforms Per 100ml