New Lactic Acid Bacteria can Make African Camel Milk Safe: Study

A formula for a freeze-dried starter culture that African camel milk farmers can use to make safe, fermented milk products has been developed by a research team at Technical University of Denmark, DTU.

Study Background

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‘Lactic acid bacteria can be used to make camel milk products safer to consume.’

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In Africa, camel milk constituted upwards of 9% of the total milk production. The farmers, who milk the animals, sell much of the milk as a fermented product in local markets or roadside stalls.

The fermentation process occurs spontaneously as the farmers have no cooling facilities. The level of hygiene is often poor milk and contains disease-causing microorganisms such as E.coli and salmonella, which can multiply in the lukewarm milk.

"New" bacteria ferment the camel milk

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Researchers from the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark have discovered a new way of making the camel milk safer.

The research was conducted in partnership with the University of Copenhagen, food ingredient producer Chr. Hansen and Haramaya University in Ethiopia. It was partly funded by Denmark's development cooperation programme, DANIDA.

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New strains of lactic acid bacteria were extracted from raw camel milk. The bacteria used in a starter culture both acidify the milk and kill off even vast amounts of various disease-causing microorganisms in the milk.

Five liters of milk can make enough starter culture to produce half a million liters of safe, fermented camel milk.

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Foodborne Diseases/Illness

It is a common, costly—yet preventable—public health problem.
Each year worldwide, unsafe food causes 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420 000 deaths.
30% of foodborne deaths occur among children under 5 years of age.
1 in 6 Americans get sick from contaminated foods or beverages each year, and 3,000 die.

Source-Medindia