Microbiological quality and the impact of hygienic practices on the raw milk obtained from the small-scale dairy farmers in Sabah, Malaysia

The aim of this study was to investigate the raw milk hygiene and quality among the dairy farmers within Sabah area. A total of 150 raw milk samples were obtained from different dairy farmers as well as at the milk collecting center (MCC) of the Sebrang Station, Keningau. The results revealed that the bacteriology quality of raw milk was poor as the total plate count was more than 107 CFU/ml. Both the coliform (2.96 – 4.03 log CFU/ml) and Staphylococcus counts (2.73 – 3.55 log CFU/ml) were high in all tested samples. The microbial load of the raw milk increased (p