(Hemme et al. 2003). The milk production in India mainly comes from millions of
small farmers, dispersed throughout the rural areas, and these farmers are holding
average herd size of one or two milch animals which comprises of cow and/or
buffaloes. About 35% of milk produced in India is pasteurized predominantly by
state cooperatives, multinational companies, or government dairy plants (India in
Business 2008). There are many factors that may affect the quality and safety of milk
including pathogen contamination and growth, chemical contaminants, and nutrient
degradation. Among them, biological hazards are of major concerned in dairy sector
due to the fact that milk is an ideal medium for the growth and activity of bacterial
pathogens including zoonotic pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:
H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter jejuni,
Yersinia enterocolitica, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, Mycobacterium
bovis, Brucella abortus, and Brucella melitensis.
Chemical hazards can be unintentionally introduced into milk and milk products,
making them unsafe and unsuitable for consumption. One possible way of getting
chemical contamination is by milking the animals which consume feed and/or water
that contain chemicals. Chemical contaminants in milk comprise chemical hazards
that may introduce during milk production, dairy processing, or packaging. Antibiotic residues, aflatoxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and radionuclides are some
chemical contaminants that can come into animal foodstuffs and secreted as residues
in milk. Among these, the most combative residues that occur in milk are antimicrobial drugs that may cause risks to the consumers (Khiniki 2006).
In the year 2008, the Government of India has established an authority known as
FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) for providing quality and safe
food to the consumer. Accordingly, FSSAI has developed a regulatory standard for
microbial and non-microbial contaminants in milk and milk products. Indian dairy
industries or food business operators (FBOs) are needed to follow these standards
during the manufacture, marketing, retails, and distribution of various dairy products. In recent years, consumer preferences and awareness’s regarding quality and
safety issues in dairy products are also increasing. Therefore, industries are under
tremendous pressure to provide these dairy products, within a period of 24 h. or one
working day with utmost care regarding quality and safety. Hence the need of the
hour is to develop novel methods which are real-time, accurate, cost-effective,
selective, no interference with other contaminants, etc. Many studies revealed the
various applications of biosensors, including environmental and bioprocess control
and quality and safety control of dairy products. At present, the biosensors are
applied to a large variety of samples including dairy products, food, environmental
samples, etc. Further, these biosensors are integrated into nano-molecules for the
development of nanobiosensor in order to improve the performance of the system in
both the existing and potential sensing applications. Therefore in this chapter, we
have been extensively discussing the applications of nanobiosensors in the dairy
industry for the monitoring of dairy processing, shelf-life extension, quality and
safety of dairy products, etc.
3 Application of Nanobiosensors for Food Safety Monitoring
95
small farmers, dispersed throughout the rural areas, and these farmers are holding
average herd size of one or two milch animals which comprises of cow and/or
buffaloes. About 35% of milk produced in India is pasteurized predominantly by
state cooperatives, multinational companies, or government dairy plants (India in
Business 2008). There are many factors that may affect the quality and safety of milk
including pathogen contamination and growth, chemical contaminants, and nutrient
degradation. Among them, biological hazards are of major concerned in dairy sector
due to the fact that milk is an ideal medium for the growth and activity of bacterial
pathogens including zoonotic pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:
H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter jejuni,
Yersinia enterocolitica, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, Mycobacterium
bovis, Brucella abortus, and Brucella melitensis.
Chemical hazards can be unintentionally introduced into milk and milk products,
making them unsafe and unsuitable for consumption. One possible way of getting
chemical contamination is by milking the animals which consume feed and/or water
that contain chemicals. Chemical contaminants in milk comprise chemical hazards
that may introduce during milk production, dairy processing, or packaging. Antibiotic residues, aflatoxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and radionuclides are some
chemical contaminants that can come into animal foodstuffs and secreted as residues
in milk. Among these, the most combative residues that occur in milk are antimicrobial drugs that may cause risks to the consumers (Khiniki 2006).
In the year 2008, the Government of India has established an authority known as
FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) for providing quality and safe
food to the consumer. Accordingly, FSSAI has developed a regulatory standard for
microbial and non-microbial contaminants in milk and milk products. Indian dairy
industries or food business operators (FBOs) are needed to follow these standards
during the manufacture, marketing, retails, and distribution of various dairy products. In recent years, consumer preferences and awareness’s regarding quality and
safety issues in dairy products are also increasing. Therefore, industries are under
tremendous pressure to provide these dairy products, within a period of 24 h. or one
working day with utmost care regarding quality and safety. Hence the need of the
hour is to develop novel methods which are real-time, accurate, cost-effective,
selective, no interference with other contaminants, etc. Many studies revealed the
various applications of biosensors, including environmental and bioprocess control
and quality and safety control of dairy products. At present, the biosensors are
applied to a large variety of samples including dairy products, food, environmental
samples, etc. Further, these biosensors are integrated into nano-molecules for the
development of nanobiosensor in order to improve the performance of the system in
both the existing and potential sensing applications. Therefore in this chapter, we
have been extensively discussing the applications of nanobiosensors in the dairy
industry for the monitoring of dairy processing, shelf-life extension, quality and
safety of dairy products, etc.
3 Application of Nanobiosensors for Food Safety Monitoring
95