Risks of chemical contamination in milk and its derivatives

Abstract

Milk is a complete and balanced food that with its dairies represent important components of a healthy diet for the population, since they provide proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds. However, these foods are susceptible to contamination by a wide variety of chemical products, whose presence beyond certain established legal limits determines a chronic intake of small doses of these compounds. By accumulating in the body, and depending on their toxicity, they have the potential to cause serious affections in various organs and systems, constituting a major public health problem. This review seeks to describe the entry of chemical contaminants (aflatoxins, veterinary drug residues, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxin analogues, disinfectants and detergents) into the food chain, as well as the potential effects on consumer health, the Maximum Residue Limits of these contaminants established for bovine milk and the most frequent methods used for their detection. Based on this, measures are proposed to avoid this type of contamination in dairy products, whose quality is closely related to the conditions of the surrounding environment, associated with anthropogenic activities, agricultural practices, animal production and processing conditions.