Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2025, 70(8):319-334 | DOI: 10.17221/90/2025-CJAS

The effect of artificial reduction of the somatic cell count, as a violation of authenticity, on milk quality indicatorsOriginal Paper

Oto Hanuš ORCID...1, Hana Nejeschlebová ORCID...1,4, Veronika Legarová ORCID...2, Lucie Kejdová-Rysová ORCID...2, Jan Říha Jr.3†, Eva Samková ORCID...4, Gavin Thompson ORCID...3, Irena Němečková ORCID...1, Marcela Klimešová ORCID...1, Jaroslav Kopecký ORCID...1, Radoslava Jedelská ORCID...1
1 Dairy Research Institute Ltd., Prague, Czech Republic
2 Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
3 Bentley Czech Ltd., Prague, Czech Republic
4 Department of Food Biotechnologies and Agricultural Products’ Quality, Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

The somatic cell count (SCC) in raw milk is an important indicator of health and hygienic quality. Artificial reduction of the SCC (ARSCC) in milk, for the apparent improvement of milk quality for commercial reasons, is an undesirable phenomenon and a violation of authenticity both in the factual sense and legislatively. Analytical methods need to be developed to identify ARSCC as well as to assess the effects that ARSCC may have on milk. The aim of the work was to quantify the effects of ARSCC on cow’s milk as a food raw material. The results presented are some of the first on the given problem. Raw bulk tank cow milk was sampled in two experiments, each time for the whole year (2021–2022 and 2023–2024, n = 66 and n = 53, respectively) from herds of Czech Fleckvieh and Holstein cows, 1 : 1. ARSCC in experiment 1 (n = 66) slightly reduced the fat content, in experiment 2 (n = 53) it did not, otherwise the milk indicators with the exception of SCC were almost (1) and completely (2) identical. All samples were negative for the presence of inhibitory substance residues. ARSCC under the specified technological conditions reduced SCC (1) from 772 ± 906 103/ml to 376 ± 630 103/ml, by –51.3% (P < 0.001) and (2) from 592 ± 798 103/ml to 304 ± 468 103/ml, by –48.5% (P < 0.001). Under these circumstances, the milk fermentation ability improved (1) from 28.52 ± 4.72 °SH to 31.0 ± 4.65 °SH, by 8.66% (P < 0.001) and (2) from 32.51 ± 2.61 °SH to 33.80 ± 2.88 °SH, by 3.97% (P < 0.001). Curd firmness was better for SCC ≤ 400 103/ml compared to higher SCC by 5.26% (P < 0.001). Nevertheless, it is not possible, for hygienic and health reasons, to allow such milk for human consumption and it is necessary to find effective identification analytical methods for ARSCC.

Keywords: centrifugation; milk composition; raw cow’s milk; subclinical mastitis; technological properties

Received: June 23, 2025; Accepted: July 29, 2025; Published: August 27, 2025  Show citation

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Hanuš O, Nejeschlebová H, Legarová V, Kejdová-Rysová L, Říha J, Samková E, et al.. The effect of artificial reduction of the somatic cell count, as a violation of authenticity, on milk quality indicators. Czech J. Anim. Sci. 2025;70(8):319-334. doi: 10.17221/90/2025-CJAS.
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