Safety and nutritional quality of pastoral traditional fermented Camel milk (Suusa)

Abstract

Suusa is spontaneously fermented raw camel milk prepared by pastoral women and informally marketed in Kenya. Processors, traders and consumers of suusa rely on organoleptic testing for quality and safety along the suusa value chain. Handling practices in raw milk and suusa products potentially exposes the product to microbial contamination which is associated with reduced shelf life and risk of infections to consumers with milk borne and zoonotic diseases such as brucellosis and tuberculosis. Furthermore, spontaneous fermentation results in a product of inconsistent quality. This study analysed the microbial safety and nutritional quality of suusa along its value chain. Simple random sampling was used to select women group processors, traders and consumers in the value chain. The samples analysed had microbial load increasing significantly (p<0.05) from production to market with total viable counts by 1 log cycle, coliform count by 1 log cycle, spore count by 3 log cycles and yeast and moulds by 1 log cycle while lactic acid increased from 0.07% to 0.23%. The overall microbial load comprised of 67% gram negative rods, 62% gram positive cocci and 28% yeast and moulds from production, processing and marketing. Brucella species and Mycobacteria tuberculosis complex (MTBC), a human tuberculosis causing strain, were detected at production and marketing nodes. Fat content of suusa (2.45 to 3.26%) decreased significantly (p<0.0.5) along the value chain. Handling practices affects microbial load and fat content of suusa along the value chain. The suusa value chain presents risk of infection to consumers with zoonotic pathogens making the product a potential public health risk.