Abstract
The safety of dairy products with respect to food-borne diseases is a great public health concern around the world. The microbial load of milk is a major factor in determining its quality. Hence, this study was aimed to evaluate of the quality and hygienic practices of cow milk consumed by children in and around Bahir Dar. A total of 79 milk samples were collected and analyzed using standard bacteriological examination. The study revealed that the proportions of respondents who practice udder washing prior to milking were 56%, 22% and 2% in urban, periurban and rural areas, respectively. Moreover, 88.7%, 67.3% and 45.2% of respondents has a practice of milk boiling before feeding the milk to their children in the urban, peri-urban and rural areas of the study, respectively. The majority of respondents in the urban (88%) and peri-urban (50%) areas wash milking, milk feeding and storing containers with detergents and boiled water. Higher (SPC/ml) was found in the rural 5x105 areas of the study compared to the urban and peri-urban sites. Likewise, of SPC, higher CC (2.2x105) was obtained in the rural area of the study without significant (p > 0.05) difference in mean SPC across location. Therefore, milk collected from all study sites does not meet the minimum quality standard as the coliform population was much higher than the value indicated. Therefore, further research works to address constraints and to improve child milk consumption are imperative.Keywords: Bahir Dar, child milk consumption, milk quality
Highlights
Milk is one of the major products of livestock.In addition to serving as source of income for livestock owners; it can contribute to household food security especially for healthy child nutrition
; this study was conducted with objectives of evaluating quality of cow milk consumed by children in and around Bahir Dar
The Standard Plate Count (SPC) obtained in this study was lower than the report of Asaminew Tassew and Eyassu Seifu(2007), Solomon et al (2013), who reported in Bahir Dar zuria and Mecha woreda and selected dairy farms in Debre Zeit town, respectively
Summary
Milk is one of the major products of livestock (cattle, camels and goat).In addition to serving as source of income for livestock owners; it can contribute to household food security especially for healthy child nutrition. The hygienic control of milk and milk product in Ethiopia is not usually conducted on routine bases (Bisrat Godefay and Bayleyegn Molla, 2000). The microbial load of milk is a major factor in determining its quality. It indicates the hygienic level exercised during milking, that is, cleanliness of the milking utensils, condition of storage, manner of transport as well as the cleanliness of the udder of the individual animal (Parekin and Subhash, 2008). According to Bisrat Godefay and Bayleyegn Molla (2000), in Ethiopia the dairy hygiene is given less attention. They reported that, exogenous sources of milk contamination with bacteria are very common. ; this study was conducted with objectives of evaluating quality of cow milk consumed by children in and around Bahir Dar
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