The management and control of milk hygiene in the informal sector by environmental health services in South Africa

Abstract

Local government (LG) is under increasing pressure from the milk industry and consumers regarding their ability and willingness to carry out their mandate with regard to the quality control of milk, especially in the informal sector. The government and the milk industry currently have programmes underway to stimulate economic activities in the informal sector, targeting emerging cattle farmers for the production of milk as part of government’s Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). These initiatives further increase the number of informal milk producers and distributors, which holds a further challenge to regulatory authorities. At the same time, the quality of milk from the informal milk-producing sector poses a serious public health concern. Most of the milk produced and sold by the informal sector is raw (unpasteurised), which does not meet the minimum statutory requirements, and the milking practices applied by the informal sector also do not comply with best practice compliance standards. Local authorities (LAs) are statutorily responsible for registering milking parlours and controlling milk hygiene quality from production stage to purchase stage in order to ensure safe and wholesome dairy products to the consumer. Therefore, LG should play an increasingly important role in ensuring that safe and wholesome milk is produced and distributed to the consumers. All metropolitan municipalities (metros) and district municipalities (DMs) should be authorised by the Ministry of Health to enforce the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act 54 of 1972) through their authorised officials – mainly environmental health practitioners (EHPs). Secondly, LG should have specific programmes, systems and resources to register, monitor, evaluate and control milk production and distribution outlets for continued compliance