Survey on Raw Milk Quality in Kosovo

Abstract

In Kosovo, a new regulation on quality standards and grade of fresh milk is valid since January 1, 2007. The regulation was based on the respective EU-regulation and has an ambitious time frame with a transition period of only three years. In order to estimate the impact of this new regulation, a survey on the quality of raw milk delivered to the Kosovar dairies was carried out from January to May 2007. The aim was to get a reliable picture of the current raw milk quality in the dairy channel in Kosovo, to discuss the findings with the relevant actors of the dairy sector and the government, and to draw the necessary conclusions. In total 364 milk samples, from the leading 14 dairies constitute the basis for the statistical analyses of this study. The four most important parameters of raw milk quality: TBC, SCC, FP and AB were analyzed. Regarding TBC, the results show that around 20% of samples meet the Kosovo standard 2008 (< 500,000 CFU/ml) and only around 10% meet the (higher) Kosovo standard 2009 (<100,000 CFU/ml) while for SCC, around 80% of the samples meet the Kosovo standard 2008 (<600,000 cells/ml) and 66% meet the (higher) Kosovo standard 2009 (<400,000 cells/ml). Therefore at the moment the problem of high microbiological content is more prominent than the one of high somatic cell count. Beside this, in one third of the samples, the freezing point is at least questionable. In 2.2% of the samples antibiotics could be proven—a major risk for public health. Raw milk quality in Kosovo still is very poor and must be improved in order the dairy processors be able to produce qualitatively good end products and therefore can compete with imported dairy products or export their products.