Comparative Study of the Composition and Quality of Bulk Tank Milk

During the past decade, many changes have taken place in the dairy industry. At the present time, the industry is endeavoring to improve the quality and handling of milk. This is being accomplished by new equipment and improved methods. In recent years the handling and transporting of milk by means of the ten gallon can is being replaced by the bulk tank system. With improved farm and truck tanks, milk can be cooled rapidly and stored at a lower temperature. There are a few problems pertaining to quality, fat tests and wights in handling milk in bulk tanks. Among the problems we may list the following; maintenance and improvement in the quality with reference to bacterial content and flavor, accurate composite fat tests and economy of investment and operation. The dairy industry along with other industries are striving to improve the equipment and methods of handling milk. With each improvement, there are many problems that must be overcome before the system can be considered successful. The tank system calls for every other day pick-up. The milk is pumped from the farm tank into the tank truck before being transported to the dairy plant. With this new development came the problem of gathering the samples of milk for the fat test at the farm rather than at the factory. This study compares the daily fat test with the 15 day composite of farm tank milk. If milk is cooled and allowed to stand for any period of time a cream layer will form on the top of the milk. To mix the milk thoroughly for the cooling and sampling, installation of a mechanical agitator was necessary. The milk is held on the farm two days before delivery. This may cause a problem in increased bacterial counts. With the use of the bulk tank trucks came the problem of proper cleaning and sanitizing. Only a small amount of research has been made on cleaning and sanitizing tanks. Along with this problem came the one of undesirable flavors in milk. The question of the effect of increased holding and agitation on the development of undesirable flavors becomes important. Without proper control a large tank of milk could very easily be contaminated with the milk from one patron. As these problems, among others, are successfully solved, the bulk tank system of handling milk will flourish throughout the dairy industry