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Researchers work to make camel milk safer in Africa

New research shows that strains of lactic acid bacteria can be used to make camel milk sold in Africa safer for human consumption by eliminating disease-causing microorganisms like E.coli and salmonella that frequently contaminate the milk.

This finding was discovered by researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, the national Food Institute, the University of Copenhagen, food ingredient producer Chr. Hansen and Haramaya University in Ethiopia. In addition to isolating the strains of lactic acid bacteria that can improve the safety of camel milk, the scientists established a formula for a freeze-dried, quality controlled starter culture that can effectively and economically introduce this bacteria into the milk sold throughout Africa.

Camel milk is one of those products whose quality suffers due to a lack of proper food handling measures. The dairy products, which accounts for 9% of Africa’s total milk production naturally ferments and is generally sold as a fermented product. However, this process occurs spontaneously which can lead to a lukewarm environment where harmful bacteria can multiply and contaminate the milk.

Researchers found a way to replicate this fermentation process with a strain of lactic acid bacteria that already exists in raw camel milk to both acidify the milk and kill off disease-causing microorganisms.

Although the scientists say that five liters of milk is sufficient to create enough starter to produce half a million liters of safe, fermented camel milk, they still recommended heat-treating the dairy product prior to adding the culture to remove the maximum number of disease-causing microorganisms as possible.

Foodborne illness kills 137,000 people annually across the African continent due to a less robust food safety system than what exists in Europe and the reality that many farmers selling their products at local markets and roadside stalls do not have access to proper refrigeration or preservation technologies.

The culture that the scientists created is freeze-dried to facilitate storage. Chr. Hansen, who participated in this research told Food Navigator that there is a potential to commercialize this culture and add flavors to help mask the acidic taste associated with the cultured milk.