Food production is becoming complex with the increasing demand. The risk of unhygienic practices has increased in the food production industry. Ghee and Milk are one of those food products that approximately every individual consumes in different forms of dairy products. However, contamination in dairy farming can take place very easily. The entry of pathogens and bacteria can create serious illness in larger populations.
For safety concerns and safety guidelines, make sure your dairy product processing unit is free from pathogens like Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocyogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica.
To minimise the risk factor, you must stick to the strict guidelines and safety measures discussed in this blog post.
Importance of Maintaining Good Hygiene in Dairy Farming
Maintaining good hygiene is essential for various safety measures, which are discussed as follows:
- Prevent the entry of harmful bacteria and pathogens in any type of dairy product. Unhygienic packaging and procedures cause contamination in the initial stages. These factors determine the quality of the food product and safety concerns.
- Maintaining good hygiene makes sure to maintain high standards in regard to the safety of the food. You will be able to protect your consumers from any type of food-prone disease.
- Moreover, maintaining hygiene will help you to make a separate reputation for your company by organising regular inspections, public testing, and other essential certifications.
- The increased demand for organic and natural food has changed the safety concerns completely. By maintaining good hygiene in dairy farming, you can meet the customer’s demands and understand their expectations.
Key Hygiene Practices for the Dairy Farming Industry
Here are some key hygiene practices discussed below that you can follow to promote safety measures for the dairy industry:
Hygiene During Production
Modern ghee production techniques are completely different from the traditional manual model. These modern techniques have changed hygiene practices. In the modern method, contamination can take place from infected or impure machinery and equipment used in the processing of ghee.
- Make sure to use advanced technology to check for any type of contamination.
- Train your staff and make sure they are also maintaining their hygiene along with dairy hygiene.
Hygiene in Dairy Plants
Consider sanitisation as the initial step for maintaining hygiene in your dairy plant.
- Train your staff and make sure they are using the machinery and other equipment properly without promoting any type of contamination.
- Also, make sure that the machinery and equipment your staff is using have been cleaned properly before every use. Most of the bacteria and pathogens enter dairy products from these sources.
- Good water supply, washing criteria, and drainage systems also play a key role in maintaining hygiene in dairy plants.
- Contamination-free dairy products can only be achieved by following personal hygiene in the first place. So, make sure all your staff is using gloves, masks, and caps.
- Avoid wearing any type of accessory near a dairy plant to avoid any mishap.
Personal Hygiene Practices
Human beings play a key role in the contamination of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Personal hygiene safety measures keep the quality of food high and maintain other hygiene guidelines.
- Train your staff to wash their hands properly. They need to wash their hands every time they enter or leave the dairy plant. Wash your hands if your hands feel a little tainted, grimy, or unclean.
- Avoid the use of any type of lotion or chemical on your hands to prevent any chemical exchange. Sanitisation plays a crucial role in maintaining the safety standards of hands.
- If any staff member has an open wound, then take immediate action and take the person for assessment. After clearing all assessments, the employee can work, but after covering the open area properly with the help of a bandage.
- Make sure your staff members are following all the regulations regarding workwear. Workwear is not worn out in any type of public or risky areas like washrooms, smoking areas, or lunch areas. Ideal hygiene workwear is designed in such a way to minimise skin contact.
- Wearing hand gloves, face masks, and other safety measures in dairy farming should be mandatory to prevent any type of contamination.
- Integrate the use of disposable shoe caps and gloves for maximum safety and prevention in the production areas of dairy farming.
Wastewater Hygiene in Dairy Farming
Wastewater is a byproduct and can lead to severe contamination if not managed properly. Wastewater can pollute all the water sources and spread unhygienic practices in all the areas of dairy farming. To ensure compliance with regulatory standards and maintain a safe and sanitary environment, dairy plants must implement effective wastewater treatment methods.
- You can take the help of oxygen and integrate aerobic treatment to break down all the organic waste into water. This method is highly effective and relatively low cost.
- Furthermore, you can use biological media to treat wastewater. Pass the wastewater from these organic media like sand and laver of different types of gravels to filter the wastewater. This method is effective in removing suspended solids and reducing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the wastewater.
- Activated sludge is a biological treatment process that uses a suspended culture of microorganisms to treat wastewater.
Conclusion
Hygiene is one of the significant factors in raising the quality of the products produced by dairy farming. Above, we have seen some key practices that you can integrate into your dairy farming practices to make sure about the quality and safety measures of the food.
Hitkram dairy products are processed from all stages by maintaining hygiene of all machinery, equipment, and personal hygiene.
