Quality and Safety Assessment of Bangladeshi Pasteurized Milk

Background: Milk is considered as one of the highly nutritious food for human. This study was undertaken to evaluate the physicochemical as well as the microbial quality of pasteurized milk of different brands available in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Methods: Five types of branded pasteurized liquid milk were collected from retail markets of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Physicochemical analyses were carried out in order to determine the levels of pH, acidity, fat, protein, casein, specific gravity, Solids-Not-Fat (SNF), and total solids of the samples. Also, the samples were analyzed microbiologically to assess the total microbial loads and coliforms. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 23.0. Results: The ranges of physicochemical parameters of the samples were determined, including specific gravity (1.024-1.031), pH (5.8-6.7), acidity (0.17±0.01-0.37±0.01%), total solids content (8.17-12.27%), SNF (7.28-8.49%), fat (0.89-3.78%), protein (3.42±0.09-3.63±0.02%), and casein content (2.66±0.07-2.82±0.02%). Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were recorded among different milk brands for all physicochemical parameters except specific gravity. The highest and lowest amounts of total bacterial counts were 1150400 and 35500 CFU/ml, respectively. A significant difference (p