Improving milk safety at farm-level in an intensive dairy production system:relevance to smallholder dairy producers

Objective:This paper discusses methods for improving milk safety in smallholder dairying.Methodology:Analyzing best practices/experiences of selected countries and Ethiopian dairy farming as a case study(household survey and milk testing).Results:The coliform count was slightly higher than European standard.The value of total bacterial count found was higher than the standard of bacteriological quality of milk.Somatic Cell count is slightly higher than US standard,but it is in the range of the EU standard.Moreover,there were other associated challenges facing dairy farmers,including shortage of feed concentrate and water,milk marketing,health of dairy stock,and manure management.Some better practices were also observed including literacy and dairying experience of smallholder dairy producing-households.Despite this,increased availability of some dairy stakeholders and their efforts would also be an added advantage.The efforts of private veterinarians to engage in provision of drugs and on-call home-treatment for stall-fed cows were good,but this needs to be complemented with laboratory based-diagnostic/clinical and advisory services prevent diseases.Conclusion:Improvement of milk safety can be achieved through good management practices by dairy farmers,market incentives,and increased efforts of various stakeholders and the adoption of best practices.In this regard,a coordinated action involving all stakeholders is needed to implement preventative/control measures,quality management strategies,and appropriate regulation while supporting and building capacity of smallholder dairy producers to minimize risks associated with milk production.

An overview of aflatoxin B1 biotransformation and aflatoxin M1 secretion in lactating dairy cows

Milk is considered a perfect natural food for humans and animals.However,aflatoxin B1(AFB1)contaminating the feeds fed to lactating dairy cows can introduce aflatoxin M1(AFM1),the main toxic metabolite of aflatoxins into the milk,consequently posing a risk to human health.As a result of AFM1 monitoring in raw milk worldwide,it is evident that high AFM1 concentrations exist in raw milk in many countries.Thus,the incidence of AFM1 in milk from dairy cows should not be underestimated.To further optimize the intervention strategies,it is necessary to better understand the metabolism of AFB1 and its biotransformation into AFM1 and the specific secretion pathways in lactating dairy cows.The meta-bolism of AFB1 and its biotransformation into AFM1 in lactating dairy cows are drawn in this review.Furthermore,recent data provide evidence that in the mammary tissue of lactating dairy cows,aflatoxins significantly increase the activity of a protein,ATP-binding cassette super-family G member 2(ABCG2),an efflux transporter known to facilitate the excretion of various xenobiotics and veterinary drugs into milk.Further research should focus on identifying and understanding the factors that affect the expression of ABCG2 in the mammary gland of cows.