The aim of the study was to assess hygienic production practices and to evaluate microbial quality of raw cows’ milk in Cheha district of Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia. The study was conducted by interviewing 180 smallholder milk producers from two agro-ecologies (highland and midland) and by collecting 40 milk samples from milk producers, small shops, cafes and consumers for microbial quality analysis. The result indicated that majority of the respondents (96.7%) did not have cow barn and milking area, 57.3% of them clean their barn once and more than once a week. Moreover, milking without hand washing, absence of udder washing, failure to use towel to clean the udder, and use of plastic pail as milking equipment were practiced by 33.9%, 52.2%, 74.4% and 95.6% of the respondents, respectively. Furthermore, higher number of respondents (69.4%) used river water without proper treatment as a major source of water for cleaning purpose and majority of them fail to regularly clean utensils with detergents. Concerning microbial quality, overall mean total bacterial counts (TBC), Coliform counts (CC) and pH values of milk from current finding were 5.675 ± 0.016, 4.414 ± 0.017 log10 cfu/ml, and 5.963 ± 0.081, respectively. In general, overall quality of milk produced as well as marketed in the study area was poor. These were justified from poor hygienic practices and high values of TBC and CC that were significantly higher than the acceptable limits set by Ethiopian Standards for unpasteurized milk. Therefore, adequate sanitary and control measures should be taken at all stages from production to consumer level to produce and supply wholesome milk.
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