Case Study: Acids with Sanitizing Properties Sustain Acceptable Cleaningand Milk Quality Standards

摘要

Proper cleaning and sanitizing are essential to producing high quality, safe dairy products and should be performed after each milking. Each step of the wash process targets different types of milk soils: alkaline wash (fat and protein), acid wash (minerals), and sanitizing step (microorganisms). The Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) enforces the use of a sanitizer on any milk contact surface before usage. Sanitizers are the last step of the cleaning cycle and its purpose is to help control bacterialpresence in the milking system. The type of soil and water quality (among others) will influence, if not dictate, the selection of cleaning and sanitizing chemicals for use in the facility. When used as a sanitizer, a product needs to be registered as such under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and used following manufacturer recommendations. In some cases, products have properties that allow their use as acids or sanitizers, which provide an interesting benefit to the producer (i.e. combining the acid and sanitizer step into one). This study monitored the cleaning and milk quality performance of products with acid sanitizing properties on pipelines and bulk milk tanks.