Fresh milk needs careful storage
-advise producers
Stabroek News
May 14, 2004
As sales of fresh dairy products grow, local producers are advising the public that milk products are perishable items and must be carefully stored.
Producers have acknowledged that some customers have complained that one or two bottles of their dairy milk purchases spoiled before the expiry date. But they say it is not due to faults during production.
Kelvin Craig, of St. Stanislaus Farm which markets Goodmorning dairy products, explains that a drop in the temperature of the freezer or cooler where milk or cheese dips are being held can cause the products to spoil.
Craig is the National Project Co-ordinator, of the Guyana Dairy Development Project which partners with St. Stanislaus Farm to produce Goodmorning dairy products such as flavoured milk, yoghurt and cheese dips.
He says the public must understand that milk is a perishable product, adding that fresh diary products are not like milk powder or tinned milk.
And storing the milk with acidic items such as onions, lemons and limes in your home freezer also contributes to spoilage. Goodmorning dairy products have a 20-day shelf life and carry expiry dates.
However, Craig believes that a 'best before' date is much clearer to the customer, adding that this will be their next move.
"We are all learning the dairy product handling," he notes.
Anernauth Kirigtal, the manager of Whitegate Dairy also explains that in very rare cases a bottle of milk will spoil from an entire batch. Whitegate dairy plant produces flavoured milk.
According to Kirigtal, 22 gallons make one batch of products, so if the plant is at fault then an entire batch would spoil and not just one or two.
Two months ago Whitegate Dairy had a problem with its plant where a batch of milk spoiled but this was rectified, says Kirigtal, and those who were affected as a result of this had their stocks replaced.
Whitegate dairy plant does not use recycled bottles but is considering using plastic bags for 1.5 litre packaging to reach more low-income milk users.
Craig says the farm has no plans to use glass bottles since it is more expensive, nor plastic bags because these do not display the product as well.