Clean Goat Milk | How to produce?

Production of good quality goat milk should start at the farm level because flavor and quality of the milk cannot be improved later at the processing stage. The basic principle is that the better the quality of milk, the better the processed goat milk products.

Clean milk need not be necessarily one which is clean and dust free to the naked eye but one which is obtained from healthy female goats (does) following hygienic milk production practices, processed, handled / distributed under strict sanitary conditions, contains lesser number of harmless microorganisms and capable of keeping good at room temperature for a considerable period of time.

1. Goat

The goat should be healthy, free from diseases, well groomed, and protected against various diseases with preventive vaccinations. The goat should be fed with required quantity of concentrate / green fodder / tree fodder as feed has a definite influence on milk composition and yield. Before milking the udder including both the teats are thoroughly washed with water, antiseptic solution, if required, wiped with a clean cloth and few strippings from each teat (foremilk) is discarded.

2. Goat handlers

The farmers or goat handlers should be healthy, shouldn’t suffer from zoonotic diseases and protected against various diseases with preventive vaccinations. If hand milking is practiced, the handlers should wash their hands thoroughly and dry them with a clean towel. A suitable lubricant like a harmless vegetable oil, butteroil or milk itself may be used for milking the does (female goats). The handlers shall always follow clean and personal hygienic practices and shall not indulge in talking, smoking, sneezing, scratching the head or body parts while milking the does. The nails in the hands of handlers should be neatly clipped as overgrown nails will inflict injury to the teats / udder.

3. The equipment and utensils associated with milking process

The milking machine, when used for milking the does shall be maintained hygienically. Regular cleaning and sanitization of milking machine is a must after every milking to prevent building up of microbial load. The utensil used for collection of goat milk shall be clean, exclusively used for milk collection alone and not for other purposes. The utensils should be washed thoroughly with a suitable detergent and rinsed with water till traces of detergents are washed out. Exposure of utensils to direct sunlight helps in sanitizing. Hot water / steam can be used as physical sanitizing agents or QAC or iodophores act as chemical sanitizers. Narrow mouthed utensils are preferred to wide mouthed ones as the former helps in reducing the aerosol contamination while milking.

4. The milking environment

The environment of the barn where milking is done should be free from dust, dirt and strong air currents. It is better not to feed the does with dusty feeds during milking, as it adds up to the microbial load of the milk produced. It is better to avoid the company of bucks with does during milking as it imparts ‘goaty odour’ to the milk. The waste material of the farm should be disposed off in a farther place. Strong smelling substances should be kept away; at a distance from the milking barn as fat globules in milk has an affinity to absorb strong odours, resulting in off flavours in milk.

A good quality milk must be free from pathogens and preferably contain lesser number of organisms likely to damage the cheese. It should be free from foreign substances such as antibiotics, antiseptics, or pesticide residues.

To safeguard quality goat milk production, at least five major parameters are routinely monitored by various agencies in commercial milk production channels as follows

How to produce a clean and healthy goat milk?

1. Goat

2. Goat handlers

3. The equipment and utensils associated with milking process

4. The milking environment