Milk Quality
Through their pride and passion, Canadian dairy farmers produce high-quality, nutritious Canadian milk in accordance with some of the most stringent standards in the world.
The proAction program builds on robust federal and provincial regulations, allowing consumers to be confident that every drop of milk they enjoy is safe, fresh, and delicious.
Sampling and Monitoring Milk Quality
All milk produced on Canadian farms is inspected and sampled before it is picked up at the farm. Milk held in both farm tanks and milk trucks is sampled for quality.
Dairy farmers are licensed and inspected by their provincial regulatory authorities, and monitor bacteria level, fat, protein, and other quality criteria regularly.
All milk truck drivers are trained experts in grading milk – they inspect, measure, and take samples of milk before loading it on the truck.
All Canadian milk is tested at processing plants and labs to ensure the milk meets quality and food safety standards.
The use of artificial growth hormones is banned in Canada, so consumers can be confident that milk produced under proAction is rBST-free.
Fresh and Delicious
Milk is picked up at the farm every day or every second day, so consumers can enjoy the freshest, best-tasting milk and dairy products.
Ensuring the Finest High-Quality Milk
The Canadian dairy sector has established a national standard for somatic cell counts (SCC) per millilitre of raw milk. A low SCC correlates to improved quality and shelf life of pasteurized fluid milk.
The dairy sector has set a high bar for somatic cell counts. In 2012, DFC worked collaboratively with provincial regulators to establish a new national standard of 400,000 cells/ml and provincial regulatory authorities all changed their regulations to match. From January to June 2021, all of the provincial average SCC results reported exceeded this target considerably, coming in under 200,000 cells/ml.
RESOURCES FOR FARMERS
Farmers deal with milk quality criteria every day to control somatic cell count (SCC), bacteria levels, freezing point and inhibitors. These criteria are regulated and used by the industry to assess farm milk quality. Being proactive helps Canadian dairy farmers continue to produce milk that is among the best in the world!
What is SCC?
“Fundamentally, milk from a healthy mammary gland already contains a certain number of somatic cells. These cells act as watchdogs in case of an infection. When bacteria enter the mammary gland, SCC increases. To the cow, somatic cells are allies that will fight an infection. The farmer wants to avoid infections as they have an impact on production as well as on the health and well-being of the cow.”
Source: Canadian Bovine Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Network
Requirements
Milk quality is evaluated with every time milk is picked up at the farm. Each time, a milk sample is taken for testing, milk inspectors determine the quality based on four elements that farmers monitor daily. The points below explain the targets and regulations for Milk Quality.
1. Inhibitor
Milk must be free of substances that inhibit bacterial growth in raw milk, including veterinary drug residues. Penalties are applied if inhibitors of any type are in penalty range in the bulk tank milk sample. Losses and cost may also be charged to an offending producer when a tanker-truck is contaminated if the farmer’s milk sample contains inhibitors in penalty range.
2. Abnormal Freezing Point
Milk has a normal freezing point of less than -0.506°C. A penalty is applied if the official Cryoscope result is greater than the specified level for Abnormal Freezing Point (AFP) of -0.507°C.
3. Bacteria
In Canada, there are two methods to measure bacteria level in raw milk. In a first method called Bactoscan, milk must contain less than 122,000 Individual Bacteria Cells (IBC) per mL. The second method, used in some provinces and other countries is called Standard Plate Loop Count, and the equivalent threshold is 50,000 CFU/mL.
4. Somatic Cell Count (SCC)
Milk must contain less than 400,000 individual cells (IC) per mL. A milk sample with a test result greater than 399,000 IC/mL is in the penalty range.
Fact Sheets
Additional Resources
The Canadian Bovine Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Network brings together researchers with the expertise on milk quality and udder health.
Farms are inspected provincially to ensure the barns, equipment and facilities are adequate and meet requirements. While all provinces have inspections, here are examples of two provinces that have put the inspection checklist online, British Columbia, Ontario.