Chlorates - Chlorine-free cleaning of milking equipment

Chlorine will no longer be used in milking equipment cleaning products or protocols by the end of 2020. David Gleeson, Milk Quality Research Officer, Teagasc tells us more.

There are food safety concerns regarding chlorine residues such as Trichloromethane (TCM) and Chlorate. It is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve dairy product specifications, when chlorine-based products are used as part of the milking equipment cleaning routines on-farm and/or in the CIP systems within processing plants. Chlorine will no longer be used in milking equipment cleaning products or protocols by the end of 2020.

Five new chlorine-free (CF) cleaning protocols have been evaluated at Moorepark for the cleaning of milking machines and three options are recommended for the cleaning of bulk milk tanks. Teagasc is continually evaluating these new products and routines. A number of changes to your existing cleaning protocols are required when changing to CF products. These include:

• more regular use of hot water
• acid descale
• increased working solutions of caustic based detergents
• no recycling of liquid products for a second wash occasion
• the use of Peracetic acid as a sanitizing rinse.

This video explains the main changes required. More detailed information on the chemical analysis of CF products and on steps necessary for each of the cleaning protocols are available here on the Teagasc website. https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/milk-quality/chlorates/