Milk and Product Quality

Ireland produces milk to the highest international standards; however, quality standards continually become more demanding. Thus, the Irish dairy industry must respond proactively to such changes. As the industry moves towards the production of higher value foods and ingredients, many destined for the enhanced nutrition and infant foods markets the requirement to ensure the quality standard of milk will increase. Thus, it is critical that Teagasc maintain a close working relationship with key industry stakeholders to ensure that our research programme is addressing new and emerging milk quality issues while maintaining capacity to deal with more established concerns. Support from the Dairy Levey Research Fund (DLRF) enables Teagasc Food and Animal & Grasslands Research and Innovation programmes to establish and maintain regular contact with key stakeholders through quarterly meetings of the Trichloromethane (TCM)/Chlorate Working Group and regular hosting of the Teagasc Moorepark Milk Quality Workshops.

The TCM/Chlorates working group was formed in response to dairy industry concerns about low levels of these residues found in milk and dairy products produced in Ireland. The key source of both chemical residues was traced to the use of chlorine-based detergents used for washing plant and equipment both on-farm and within the milk processing chain. Based on research partly supported by the DLRF and the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, and in collaboration with industry stakeholders’ new non-chlorine-based detergents were successfully formulated and tested and protocols for their use were disseminated to farmers and dairy plant operators. Methodology to test milk for TCM and chlorate were developed and disseminated. Because of this work, TCM and chlorate levels in the milk supply have been greatly reduced and Ireland is seen as a global leader in the use on non-chlorine-based detergents in the dairy industry.

The DLRF also supported the organisation and running of Milk Quality Workshops. Such Workshops were held annually from 2018 – 2024 and were targeted to members of the dairy industry involved in monitoring and/or supporting production of quality milk and dairy products. To facilitate attendance, the same workshop was held in Cork and Cavan each year. More than 100 delegates attended the Workshops each year. The workshops have proven to be a very useful mechanism for disseminating Teagasc research on matters relating to milk and product quality and to developing and maintaining a network involving Teagasc and key industry stakeholders.