Abstract
ABSTRACTThe Integral Traceability System for tracking and tracing the milk samples used in quality control was checked for one year while monitoring 526 milk samples from sheep's, goats’ and cows’. This system includes a customized automated cooler for carrying samples with a smart sensor inside to store the data collected during the process, and a dongle to transfer the collected data to a computer to be further analysed. The technologies combined to record and trace milk samples on trips from farms to the laboratory (e.g. microcontrollers, sensors, radio frequency identification and global positioning system) were linked. This system allowed us to objectively know the duration of the sampling route and the temperature and time conditions of samples travelled in until they were analysed in an official dairy laboratory. These conditions ensured that the baseline milk quality was preserved, and was therefore adequate according to both European regulations and the price set to be paid for quality. Hardware and software prototypes worked successfully under the real study conditions, and this system may be proposed to become a reference method in the dairy sector.
Highlights
Milk is a fragile substance, preserving its quality right from milking until it is processed in the dairy industry has always been a challenge and a permanent concern
somatic cell count (SCC) were determined by the level of somatic cells, calculated by flow cytometry in a Fossomatic FC (Foss Electric, Hillerød, Denmark), where the results appear as SCC/ml and geometric mean (×103 cells/ ml)
The proposed system (De las Morenas et al 2014; Garcia et al 2015) is divided into four basic components: (1) sample tubes provided by RFID tags; (2) the electronic tube that records all the information, which the authors call a ‘smart sensor’; (3) the cooler that hosts the GPS and RFID units, and is capable of writing information inside the electronic tube through a radio link and (4) the USB dongle for downloading the information stored in the electronic tube to a computer in the lab trough the radio link
Summary
Milk is a fragile substance, preserving its quality right from milking until it is processed in the dairy industry has always been a challenge and a permanent concern. Food safety traceability may be used as a tool to manage the risks related to food safety and animal health issues, and to improve the quality and processes of products by identifying non-compliances (Charlebois and Haratifar 2014). It would be very interesting for the dairy sector to have a system available that traces the collection and transport conditions of the milk samples destined to milk quality control, preserves their quality and ensures their inviolability and traceability (Wang et al 2010; De las Morenas et al 2014; Sun et al 2016). When the route had finished, all the collected samples were sent to LILCAM for their physico-chemical and hygiene-sanitary analysis, whose results report on compliance with European and Spanish legislation, and determine the price that the farmer is paid for supplying milk
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