Special Issue 9701 - Monograph on Residues and Contaminants in Milk and Milk Products

Publication description

by IDF Group of Experts A4 – Residues and contaminants in milk and milk products

The current monograph is the 4th issue of a series of IDF publications on chemical residues in milk and milk products, which commenced as early as 1968.

The need for more food for human consumption for a growing population, and higher standards for both quantity and quality of the commodities including food of animal origin have led to an increased – but principally safe – use of chemicals in agriculture.

An influence of such production aids on milk and milk products cannot be denied, but must, under all circumstances, be kept within the frame of unaffected food safety. The consumer's increased awareness of a growing “chemicalization” of his/her daily food from media information presents a challenge to the dairy industry to ensure the unimpaired confidence of the consumer regarding the unconditional wholesomeness and safety of milk and milk products.

The recent implementation of both the World Trade Organization and the incorporated Agreement of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures which came into force on 1 January 1995 concerns the application of food safety and animal and plant health regulations. The new scientific approaches to almost unnegotiable food safety contain the Hazard Analysis and Critical Point (HACCP) system, which is expected to relieve, or at least complete, the endproduct testing executed so far but with only a few redundancies to the food-producing ecosystem.

These and some other related criteria form the background for this 1997 update. This publication is not a scientific paper. Its scientifically based content is addressed to the dairy industry and the interested public and all those who take part in the production and preservation of safe milk and milk products. Food additives and feed additives are not covered in this monograph.