In milk collection, litres do not decide the equipment; the collection pattern does. Milk from one large producer goes to a farm cooling tank and a tanker; milk gathered from many small producers goes into churns and a collection vehicle.
| Turkish Regulation on Specific Hygiene Rules for Food of Animal Origin, Article 55 | Temperature |
|---|---|
| Straight after milking, milk collected daily | 8 °C at most |
| Milk not collected daily | 6 °C at most |
| On arrival at the processing plant | 10 °C at most |
Milk that is processed within 2 hours of milking is exempt from these temperature requirements. In churn collection each churn comes from a different producer with its own temperature history, so the temperature and time of every churn are recorded; that is how the source is found when something goes wrong.
In packaged dairy distribution it is not the vehicle that holds the regime: thermal containers carry the product with their own cold source.
Surfaces that touch milk must be smooth, washable and non-toxic. Transport containers are cleaned and disinfected after every transport, and at least once a day.
Before investing in equipment, write down for one week the minutes between the end of milking and the milk reaching target temperature. Most time in a collection round is lost there, and that single number shows which equipment is needed more clearly than any calculation in litres.
