Quality–innocuousness of raw cow’s milk entering collection center’s in the Province of Cañar–Ecuador, in the context of Latin American regulations

The purpose of this study was to analyze physical–chemical and microbiological parameters of raw cow’s milk, in order to evaluate its quality and safety in relation to Ecuadorian regulations (INEN 009–2012), and to make a comparison with the regulations of the other Countries from Latin America such as Perú, Colombia, Venezuela, México and Argentina. Upon entering 28 collection centers in the Province of Cañar, 203 samples were taken from 6,124 producers. The analysis of: temperature, density, and titratable acidity were performed in situ, while fat, Total Solids (TS), Non – Fat Solids (NFS), protein (P), freezing point (FP), Somatic Cell Count (SCC), Total Bacteria Count (TBC), mesophilic Aerobes and Enterobacteria. They were carried out in the laboratories of AGROCALIDAD and the University of Cuenca. It was observed that in the variables: density (15°C), titratable acidity, fat, TS, NFS, P, FP (°C), the 87.5 to 100 % of samples comply with the Ecuadorian regulations and the regulations of the Countries analyzed; Colombian and Venezuelan regulations have more demanding of reference values for density, protein, titratable acidity and NFS, respectively. México and Argentina do not refer to TS and Perú doesn’t consider P. However, the results in microbiology are discouraging regarding the count of mesophilic aerobics, as only 8 % of the samples analyzed comply with the regulations of all Countries. The microbiological load is high, despite the fact that no regulation analyzed indicate maximum for TBC, an average of 24,000 × 10³ colony forming units per millimeter (CFU·mL^–1) was found. As a reference, some regulations in the USA set, despite a maximum of 300 × 10³ CFU·mL^–1 of TBC in blended milk. Regarding SCC, according to Argentine regulations, only 31 % of the samples would be within the parameters. This work provides knowledge of the current status of the quality–safety of raw milk in an important dairy area, and analyzes these results in the context of international regulations, serving to focus on continuous improvement with a view to export.