Interventions for Reduction of Sporeforming Bacteria at Farm Level

Bacillus and Paenibacillus spp. are sporeforming bacteria with the ability to survive the pasteurization process due to their spore structure. These bacteria can produce different enzymes that negatively affect the quality of dairy products, reducing the shelf-life of fluid milk and limiting the market for powdered milk. Therefore, the control of sporeformers is crucial to improve the quality of fluid products and to reach specific international powder markets thus benefiting the US dairy industry. In this presentation an overview of sporeformers associated with the supply chain (fluid, condensed milk and dry powder) will be presented along with potential interventions that may be applied at the farm level to control these microorganisms. It has been previously reported that effective cleaning of teats, changes in bedding material, and CIP procedures could be potential interventions to decrease sporeformers in milk. Additionally, the type of sanitizers (i.e. iodine or chlorine based) used in the parlor could have an effect in this microbial population. These potential interventions have been the subject of research at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, with some of the interventions showing to be successful in improving the quality of raw milk. This presentation will provide a brief overview of spore research done at UNL in the last five years, along with results obtained so far from interventions at farm level to reduce sporeforming bacteria in raw fluid milk.