Effect of Fine Mesh Filters on Milk Safety and Quality

Fine mesh filters improve the safety indicators of raw milk. They are expected to reduce somatic cell count and bacterial contamination, as well as to prevent technically harmful microflora from entering the cheese mass. The authors compared three types of commercial fine mesh filters labelled by manufacturers as antibacterial, fine-purification, and anti-somatic. The somatic cell count in the original milk and the filtered samples was controlled viscometrically. Such indicators as bacterial contamination, Clostridium/Bacillus spores, yeasts, and mold fungi were defined by sowing on dense nutrient media followed by viable cell counting. The physicochemical properties included the mass fraction of protein, fat, lactose, non-fat milk solids, density, freezing point, and protein fraction. The fine mesh filters had no statistically significant effect on the physicochemical composition of milk. However, their use led to false somatic cell count data, with no significant effect on the viable cell count of the abovementioned microorganisms. The somatic cell count, which is supposed to indicate mastitis milk, proved to complicate the microbiological safety control of dairy products.