Milk and Milk Products

Food safety in milk and milk products is threatened by various factors. The European Union is actively monitoring the industry to maintain safety standards. In the Netherlands, the NRL is responsible for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of official analyses.

Total aerobic plate count, somatic cell count and phosphatase

The NRL Milk and Milk Products focuses on three specific areas:

Total aerobic plate count

This number represents the microbiological quality of milk. Although most bacteria in raw milk are harmless, a high germ count indicates that the milk batch did not adhere to proper hygiene rules, which could pose a health risk to consumers.

Somatic cell count

The somatic cell count in milk indicates the number of mammalian cells. These cells enter the milk if cows suffer from udder infection, known as mastitis. A high somatic cell count can negatively affect milk quality and also suggests that the animal's well-being may not be optimal.

Phosphatase

Milk naturally contains an enzyme called alkaline phosphatase. Typically, when products are heated, enzymes are denatured and become inactive. A heat treatment similar to pasteurisation requirements can deactivate the phosphatase (almost) entirely. This is useful for determining if a producer has correctly pasteurised their milk and if farmhouse cheese is made from unpasteurised milk as required.

Regulation (EG) Nr. 853/2004 - Annex III, Section IX sets maximum levels for these three areas.

The same numbers

The reference methods provide instructions for analysing and testing milk and milk products to ensure consistent results throughout the European Union. The NRL ensures that reference methods remain up-to-date. This task is done in cooperation with other European NRLs working on milk and its products.