Evaluation of the Chemical Quality of Milk Powder Sold in Open Markets in Aba, Abia Atate, Nigeria

Background: Cow's milk is frequently recognized as the most nearly perfect nourishment for humans [1]. On the one hand, its tremendous nutritional value could affect human health [2]. Milk, on the other hand, is an ideal microbial culture medium [3] and is easily contaminated [1]. Milk quality and safety are commonly causes of anxiety because milk quality can be compromised during processing, shipping, storage, and marketing [4], particularly in underdeveloped nations with ineffective quality monitoring. Furthermore, uniformed traders expose milk to adverse environmental conditions due to ignorance.

Objective: This study investigated some chemical parameters of milk powder sold in Aba market.

Materials and Methods: A total of six (6) brands of milk powder, namely: Peak, Three Crown, Loyal, Cow Bell, Jago, and Dano milk, packaged in affordable sachets, were purchased from the new market (Abia Ohuru) in Aba town, Abia State. The samples were emptied from the sachet into sterile plastic containers, coded, sealed and transported to the laboratory immediately for analysis. Proximate, mineral, and vitamin compositions were determined using standard methods. ANOVA was used to separate the means and a significant difference was judged at p<0.05.

Results: The obtained values for almost all parameters were not significantly different (p) among the samples examined. However, the obtained values were slightly lower than the values written on the labels. The obtained values and the values on the labels were not significantly different from the CODEX Alimentarius and NFDAC set standards for milk powder, except for vitamin A values for almost all the samples.

Conclusion: The quality of milk powder sold in the Aba market can be considered to be good enough for human consumption, although slight quality degradation was found in protein, carbohydrates, fat, and especially in the vitamin A and B content of the samples. Exposure to harsh conditions during storage and retailing processes could be a possible reason.

Recommendations: Strict and legal measures should be adopted to ensure that the quality and safety of milk in the open markets is preserved.