Acknowledgements: The study team duly thanks farmers, milk collection and chilling centre personnel, and milk transporters and acknowledges their sincere and honest engagement and response during the entire course of this study. Their deep engagement in the assessment of the present practices and behaviour had been instrumental in documenting this baseline information in the present state. Enumerators' role in simplifying and ranking the practices and behaviour in a quantifiable manner where appropriate is highly appreciated. The study team on behalf of FORWARD Nepal and Samarth-Nepal Market Development Programme (NMDP) would like to extend its special thanks to UK aid for providing us with the financial assistance for conducting this study. The continuous guidance and support the team received from the key market actors of the raw milk supply chain namely, CDCAN, DIA, NDA, NDDB, DLS, DFTQC and Samarth-NMDP management had been of immense value during the course of implementing the GMP validation project including this baseline study. The team would like to extend its sincere gratitude to all of them. Acronyms ADS Agriculture Development Strategy BDS Business Development Service BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation CCs Collection Centres COB Clot-on-Boiling DANIDA DDC Dairy Development Corporation DDP Dairy Development Policy DFTQC Department of Food Technology and Quality Control DLS Department of Livestock FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United National FORWARD G, S, Ti, Ta, M, D Gyanoday, Setidevi, Timal, Tanahun, Manakamana, Dumarwana GAP Good Agricultural Practices GMP Good Manufacturing Practices GoN Government of Nepal GVAHP Good Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Practices
GVAHP Good Veterinary Husbandry Practices HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points HH Households MBRT Methylene Blue Reduction Time MCCs Milk Chilling Centres mL millilitre MoLD Ministry of Livestock Development NBSM Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology NCS National Council for Standards NDDB National Dairy Development Board NMDP Nepal Market Development Programme NPR Nepalese Rupees OIE SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SE Standard Errors SNF Solids Not Fats SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences TPC Total Plate Counts UN United Nations WTO World Trade Organization
Table 10: Milk filtering at the CC level Parameters Per cent response (n = 38) Filter types Steel Filter 2.7 Cloth filter 34.2 General filter 7.9 Plastic filter 34.2 Tea filter 2.6 More than one 10.5 Others 7.9 Guidelines for filter cleaning Yes 28.9 No 71.1 GMP step: Milk filtering at the CC level Standards to be achieved Required activities Baseline status and potential impacts All incoming milk shall be filtered with appropriate filter which will not harm milk quality. Filter shall be changed periodically during the unloading period to allow identification of the source of contaminants. Filter types: filter type shall be muslin cloth, rigid food grade plastic or stainless steel. Large variation was reported in use of filter type. 34.2 per cent of CCs reported using cloth and plastic filter, while 10.5 per cent CCs reported using more than one filter. Also steel filters, general tea filters and locally available materials were also used for filtering. Cleaning: If during use the filter becomes heavily soiled it shall be cleaned or changed for a clean one. After every use, it shall be cleaned with standard cleaning procedure. If muslin is used it shall not be allowed to touch the surface of the filtered milk. Only 28.9 per cent of CCs reported application of guidelines for filter cleaning. Unclean filter in itself harbours microbes and becomes the source of microbes in the bulked milk. Storage in churns and vats Table 7. Milk storage provisions Storage vessels Aluminium can 34.2 Stainless steel can 2.7 Plastic container 26.3
Easy access for cleaning of carrying vessels/utensils Yes 100 No 0 Cleanliness of milk-cans and equipment after use Yes 92 No 8 Cleanliness of loading pump and pipes Very Good 0 Good 8 Satisfactory 64 Bad 20 Very Bad 8 Absence of fat deposition in the transport vessels Very Good 0 Good 12 Satisfactory 36 Bad 40 Very Bad 12 Types of transport cans Aluminium can 52 Stainless steel can 4 Plastic drum 28 Tank 16 Figure 10: Availability of water and water quality testing Table 13: Inspection of vessels and utensils Self –inspection of milk transport vessels/utensils Yes 72 No 28 Third party inspected the milk transport vessels/utensils Yes 24 No 76 GMP step: bulking of milk into large vessels Standards to be Required activities Baseline status and potential Impacts
achieved The bulking of milk must not compromise large volumes of milk, or further reduce the milk quality. Transport mode /vessel type: Bulk holding vessels must be made of aluminium or stainless steel. They shall not have openings that restrict access for cleaning. CCs were found using aluminium cans, steel cans and plastic drums. The containers made of a plastic are of l low density and can be easily scratched. These scratches harbor bacteria and decrease milk quality. The containers with narrow necks prevents operator’s access during manual cleaning. Cleaning standards are poor where these tanks are used, increasing the risk to milk quality. Cleaning: All in-milk contact transport equipment including pumps, pipe work, vats etc. shall be cleaned using standard methods after every period of use. . All the transporters reported easy access for cleaning of milk carrying vessels and utensils. 92 per cent of transporters were found cleaning of vessels immediately after use. Poorly cleaned pumps are a considerable risk to milk quality. They increase the bacterial load of the milk and potentially contaminate the milk with oil, and metal fragments. This is particularly the case where mild steel pumps are in use instead of stainless steel. Water quality and quantity: the quantity of water readily available shall be in excess of cleaning requirements. Water quality shall be tested on annual basis and any treatment required carried accordingly. About 85 per cent of transporters reported adequacy of water for cleaning. However only 24 per cent reported testing thewater quality that is used to clean the vessels. Effectiveness of cleaning: The effectiveness of cleaning shall be checked every week. Potential cleaning hazards such as taps, pumps, pipe bends and inside roof surface of tank need to be checked more frequently. Cleanliness of loading pumps and pipes was observed satisfactory to very bad in majority of CCs, while only 8 per cent CCs were observed good. Likewise absence of fat deposition was observed satisfactory to very bad in most of CCs. Inspection: regular inspection shall be carried. 72 per cent of transporters reported self- inspection in place and only 24 per cent transporters reported third party inspection of transport vessels and utensils for cleanliness. In the absence of training and with the difficult role transporters do play, checking on their standards of performance is essential to minimize the risk of contaminations of all kinds. Transfer of Milk Table 13: Traceability of milk and transport provisions Parameters Response % (n = 25) Records and traceability of milk batch Yes 60
/Policies /issues 1 Milk analysis reveals 25% of farm level and 63% at CC/MCC milk samples are bad or very bad (MBRT < 2 hours) with unacceptable microbial load Regulation of the raw milk standards and safety needs to be enforced through Nepal Food Act of 1966. The Act is silent on the quality of raw milk General belief of authorities is food safety related rules and regulations are basically for inspecting and analysing end products only. Raw milk must be an integral part of quality control system of dairy industries. Advocacy: facilitate for amending Act and rules through DFTQC and MOLD/MOAD Define quality standards of raw milk Define hygiene standards of CCs, MCCs and dairy plants. Risk: milk pricing mechanism is complex, Pricing based on quality is required. DDC is the price setter. Higher price for quality milk - processors don not recognize it. This situation favours more incentives for import of whole milk powder/skimmed milk powder - a chronic reason for milk holidays. 2 Animal health/treatment records are absent at the farm level. More than 60% farms have fair to bad animal husbandry practices. Less than 30% farmers adopt hygienic milking practices. About 50% farmers do not discard milk during udder infections, Milk withdrawal during animal treatments is rarely practiced. Less than 10% farmers have received trainings in hygienic milk production Animal health and livestock services Act 1998 and regulations 1999. Food Act 1966 National Animal Health Policy to translate laws in action is absent (yet to be formulated) Performance of Veterinary Service (PVS) - gap analysis completed by GoN and World organization for Animal Health (OIE) Good Agriculture Practices guidelines in place Hygienic Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Practices (GVHP) (yet to be formulated) Absence of raw milk standards: introduce standardized test to assess milk quality Lack of long term programmes, only one or two Facilitate to formulate Animal Health policy - customize in line with country needs and OIE specifications - for raw milk and milk products, husbandry practices, drugs and biologicals). Diagnostic facilities for zoonotic and milk borne diseases Compost making process in GAP Advocacy and technical support for AH policy and GVHP formulation Awareness through media