The Control of Milk Quality in the Republic of Croatia

Mlijeko je biološka tekućina, vrlo složenog sastava, žućkasto-bijele boje, karakteristična okusa i mirisa. Pod pojmom mlijeko podrazumijevamo kravlje mlijeko, dok se ostale vrste moraju istaknuti oznakom („ovčje”, „kozje”, „bivolje“, „kobilje“, „devino“, i sl.). Te vrste mlijeka sadržavaju iste sastojke, ali udjeli i međusobni odnosi sastojaka, pa i njihova struktura mogu biti vrlo različiti. Zbog toga se vrste mlijeka razlikuju prema prehrambenim, fizikalno-kemijskim i tehnološkim osobinama. Glavni sastojak mlijeka je voda, potom mast, bjelančevine i ugljikohidrati, zatim minerali, vitamini i plinovi. Potrošače mlijeka i mliječnih prerađevina interesira kemijski sastav i higijenska kakvoća mlijeka i mliječnih prerađevina koje žele uvrstiti u prehranu. Proizvođače mlijeka interesiraju rezultati analiza jer se prema njima formira osnovna otkupna cijena litre mlijeka, a poznavajući kemijski sastav i higijensku kakvoću mlijeka mogu, ako je potrebno, poboljšati kakvoću proizvedenog mlijeka, a time povećati zaradu. Cilj ovog rada bio je prikazati kako se provode analize mlijeka u Središnjem laboratoriju za kontrolu kvalitete mlijeka, te usporediti kvalitetu mlijeka u RH unazad nekoliko godina i danas.Milk is a biological liquid, very complex, yellowish-white, characterized by its characteristic taste and smell. By the term "milk" we mean cow's milk, while other species must be labeled ("sheep", "goat", "buffalo", "carnivore", "devino", etc.). These types of milk contain the same ingredients, but the proportions and mutual relations of the ingredients, and their structure may be very different. Because of this, the types of milk differ in terms of diet, physico-chemical and technological properties. The main ingredient of milk is water, then fat, protein and carbohydrates, then minerals, vitamins and gases. The consumers of milk and dairy products are interested in the chemical composition and hygienic quality of milk and dairy products they want to include in the diet. The milk producers are interested in the results of the analysis, because they are formed by the basic purchasing price of liters of milk, and knowing the chemical composition and the hygienic quality of milk can, if necessary, improve the quality of the milk produced and thereby increase the earnings. The aim of this work was to show how milk analyzes were carried out at the Central Laboratory for Quality Control of Milk and to compare the quality of milk in Croatia back several years ago