Milk quality along the dairy chain for a safe and sustainable milk

Milk safety and quality are critical issues for human health and welfare. MILKQUA is a PRIMA* cross-multidisciplinary project engaging five EU partners from four countries (France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal) that will team with five Tunisian partners representing research, development, extension and farmers. It aims at enhancing milk and dairy food quality and safety, and decreasing milk-associated health hazards, by reducing the use of conventional antimicrobial products in Tunisian farms to align with the concept of One Health approach. The main objectives of this project are the following: 1- to set up an extension-based national milk program (QMP) to reduce the incidence of mastitis, and the consequent use of antibiotics in Tunisia, 2- to explore the potential use of essential oils and plant extracts with antibacterial activities in diets of dairy cattle to decrease the burden of mastitis, and to increase feed efficiency, and to improve animal welfare and the sustainability of milk production system, and 3- to improve milk quality including the shelf life of dairy products. The project will strongly rely on up-to-date system biology (both in vitro and in vivo assays) and OMICs methodologies. MILKQUA ambition is to enhance the role of Tunisian dairy producers as providers of sustainable food supply to consumers. It will also intend to lay the foundation of an accountable and dynamic system that will stimulate the economy growth and promote prosperous and resilient communities across the country and elsewhere, providing new knowledge about the biolog ical effects of natural compounds that will be extended to other Mediterranean countries. * Partnership on Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) partly funded by EU's research and innovation program Horizon 2020