Contaminants in the cow's milk we consume? Pasteurization and other technologies in the elimination of contaminants

Abstract

Cow's milk is currently the most consumed product worldwide. However, due to various direct and indirect contamination sources, different chemical and microbiological contaminants have been found in cow's milk. This review details the main contaminants found in cow's milk, referring to the sources of contamination and their impact on human health. A comparative approach highlights the poor efficacy and effects of the pasteurization process with other methods used in the treatment of cow's milk. Despite pasteurization and related techniques being the most widely applied to date, they have not demonstrated efficacy in eliminating contaminants. New technologies have appeared as alternative treatments to pasteurization. However, in addition to causing physicochemical changes in the raw material, their efficacy is not total in eliminating chemical contaminants, suggesting the need for new research to find a solution that contributes to improving food safety.

Antimicrobial resistance characteristics of multidrug resistance and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli from several dairy farms in Probolinggo, Indonesia

“…Milk contamination can come from the milk handling system, udder health from the udder surface to the teat, and milk storage equipment (Reta et al 2016). The presence of E. coli in cow's milk has long been considered an indication of contamination by dairy cow fecal (Jaakkonen et al 2019), but other findings show that most of the contamination in milk is caused by contamination from the environment (Calahorrano-Moreno et al 2022).…”

“…Escherichia coli can be used as an indicator of environmental sanitation assessment (Martin et al 2016). The presence of E. coli in cow's milk is considered an indication of contamination by cow feces (Tanaro et al 2010;Jaakkonen et al 2019) but may also indicate that most of the contamination in milk is caused by contamination from the environment (Martin et al 2016;Calahorrano-Moreno et al 2022).…”

Potential hazards of multidrug resistance Escherichia coli collected from wastewater on dairy farms in East Java, Indonesia

“…Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacteria that can grow in animal products and is associated with mastitis in dairy cattle (Aslam et al 2021). Escherichia coli has long been thought to be a sign of contamination from dairy cow feces (Jaakkonen et al 2019) and caused by environmental contamination (Calahorrano-Moreno et al 2022). E. coli uses glucose and lactose from the environment to survive; Chaleshtori et al (2017) state that E. coli bacteria can ferment lactose for growth quickly.…”

Detection of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) in cow milk and hands of farmers in East Java, Indonesia

“…There are many potential causes of S. aureus and CoNS infections, but farmers' unhygienic milking practices are the main ones (Kümmel et al 2016;Taponen et al 2017). The milk handling system, the udder's condition from the surface to the nipple, and the milk storage equipment are all potential sources of milk contamination (Calahorrano-Moreno et al 2022).…”