ROLE OF COLIFORM IN MILK

Coliforms

 are a group of bacteria commonly found in the environment, including soil, water, and faeces. In milk, their presence is generally considered an indicator of poor hygiene during milking, handling, or storage. While not all coliforms are harmful, some (like Escherichia coli) can be pathogenic and pose a risk to public health.

Key roles or implications of coliforms in milk include:

1. Indicator of Sanitation: High coliform counts suggest contamination due to inadequate cleaning of equipment, poor udder hygiene, or improper milk storage.

2. Spoilage: Coliform can cause milk to spoil faster by producing off-flavours, gas, and curdling.

3. Public Health Concerns: Certain strains, especially pathogenic Escherichia coli, can cause foodborne illness of contaminated milk is consumed raw or improperly pasteurised.

4. Quality Control: Dairy industries monitor coliform levels as part of routine microbial testing to ensure product safety and quality.

In summary, coliforms are not desired in milk and serve primarily as hygiene indicators rather than having a beneficial role.

More information in the attached articles:

* The Evolving Role of Coliforms as Indicators of Unhygienic Processing Conditions in Dairy Foods (Frontiers in Microbiology - Review September 2016)

* Loads of Coliform and Fecal Coliforms and Characterization of Thermotolerant Escherichia coli in Fresh Raw Milk Cheese (Foods 2022)

For Technical Assistance:

technicalinfo@dynamiko.co.za

• Related Articles

• THE ROLE OF COLIFORMS AS INDICATORS OF UNHYGIENIC PROCESSING CONDITIONS IN DAIRY FOODS

  An informative article about The Evolving Role of Coliforms as Indicators of Unhygienic Processing Conditions in Dairy Food Testing for coliforms has a long history in the dairy industry and has helped to identify raw milk and dairy products that may ...

• LOADS OF COLIFORMS AND FAECAL COLIFORMS

  Covering Loads of coliforms and fecal coliforms and characterization of thermotolerant Escherichia coli in fresh raw milk cheese under the following topics: ♦ Materials and method ♦ Results and discussion

• CODE OF PRACTICE FOR MILK PRODUCERS

  A practical and informative article for milk producers, covering various topics of importance in the dairy industry

• COLIFORM DETECTION IN CHEESE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC CHEESE CHARACTERISTICS

  Introduction Coliform detection in finished products, including cheese, has traditionally been used to indicate whether a given product has been manufactured under unsanitary conditions. As our understanding of the diversity of coliforms has ...

• GUIDELINES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF QUALITY PROBLEMS IN MILK

  The following topics are covered in this article: ♣ Milk quality ♣ Quality of dairy products ♣ Microbial counts in milk ♣ Compositional quality of milk