On Issues of Quality, Hygiene and Safety of Fermented Milk Products: A Review

Abstract

Introduction. The article presents data on the role of milk and dairy products, including fermented milk products, in the human diet and reflects their important role in providing the body with proteins having a high essential amino acid content. In addition to all health benefits of milk, fermented dairy products have dietary and medicinal properties while their digestibility is higher than that of milk. Objective. To demonstrate the role of fermented milk products in human nutrition and benefits of fermented milk products enriched with probiotic microorganisms for preventive nutrition in the microbiocenosis of the gastrointestinal tract. Materials and methods. The article presents an analytical review of literary sources on the role of milk and dairy products, including fermented milk products, in human nutrition and provides information on the per capita production and consumption of milk and dairy products in the Russian Federation. It also addresses the problem of dysbiosis since fermented dairy technology can pose a serious microbiological risk related to favorable conditions for the growth of extraneous microorganisms coming from raw materials, starter cultures, and equipment during the production process. The absence of stringent quality standards for fermented milk products contributes to manufacturing of various counterfeit foods. Results. The article outlines the main provisions of the expert hygienic assessment of specialized food products for preventive nutrition for the purpose of their state registration on the example of fermented milk bioproducts, defines criteria for assessing the quality and safety of specialized products for dietary nutrition and requirements for technical documentation on these products, and provides the list of necessary documents for expert examination of hygiene and safety of specialized products for therapeutic and preventive nutrition. Conclusion. The permission to use novel fermented milk products as preventive nutrition foods shall be based on results of предassessing their compliance with the requirements of technical regulations of the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union on the quality and safety of products and their raw materials, packaging and labeling.