Poor handling puts camel milk at risk of contamination

Poor handling puts camel milk at risk of contamination one out of two women selling camel milk in Isiolo is at a risk of spreading infections by using spoilt milk, a new study by researchers from the universities of Nairobi and Egerton and the Kenya Camel Milk Association, has found. Often, milk that cannot be sold for failing to meet the freshness threshold is used to make a traditional fermented beverage called suusac. According to the findings published in the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, about 53 per cent of women who sell camel milk use spoilt milk for household consumption, which according to Nicanor Odongo Obiero, the lead author from the University of Nairobi, puts a lot of households at risk of getting ill. “No actor used fresh milk for making suusac and only milk that was rejected and could no longer sell as fresh milk was used for making suusac. Microbial contamination of milk can cause severe disease that can result in hospitalisation,” the study reported. Contaminated milk has disease-causing micro-organisms which can lead to diarrhoea, stomach cramping, and vomiting. Though unlikely, it can also lead to kidney failure, paralysis, and even death. Further, lack of awareness of modern and proper sterilisation methods pose a challenge to the prevention of milk contamination in the value chain of camel milk production.