Butter production, processing and handling practices at smallholders level in the central highlands and southwest midlands of Ethiopia

Cross-sectional study of smallholder butter production, processing and handling practices was conducted in the central highlands and south-western midlands of Ethiopia. Semi-structured questionnaire was pre-tested and used for data collection and 532 respondents were purposively selected and interviewed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences and SAS were used to analyse the data. Results show that, women were entirely responsible for butter production and handling and the product is mainly used for income generation, flavouring of locally made foods and stews and hair dressing in the study areas. Amount of raw milk fermented for butter making at a time (7.16 ± 2.43 litres), fermentation time (3.92 ± 0.71 days), churning time (2.12 ± 0.21 hours), quantity of butter produced (0.49 ± 0.01 kg), butter sold /week (0.49 ± 0.02 kg) and butter used for different purposes (0.28 ± 0.06 kg/week) varied significantly (P< 0.05) between the sites. Local butter preservation methods include ghee making, salting and spicing are major ones. PHL of butter occurs in the study areas due to different reasons. Coping mechanisms to mitigate the loss includes use of umbrella to shield butter from direct sunlight and heat while traveling to and in the local markets, storing butter for overnight in buckets of cold water before transporting butter to local markets. Processing, storage, and packaging materials (clay pots and gourds) used for local butter, handling and preservation practices such as spicing and salting were not optimized. Cost-effective strategies can be applied to optimize the current practices to supply adequate, better quality and safe butter. There is a need of dairy processing technologies and dependable marketing systems in the rural areas. It is also vital to assure the safe production, handling and delivery of local butter by creating awareness to the smallholder butter producers

Assessment of risk factors of food safety in local butter marketing in Kersa, Mana and Welmera districts of Oromia, Ethiopia

Risk factors pre-disposing local butter to food safety hazards in the informal marketing system along the supply chain of the central highlands and south-west midlands of Ethiopia were assessed. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select 1101 respondents from the local butter supply chain (532 producers, 107 retailers and 462 consumers). Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire developed separately for each category of respondents. Ninety- nine percent of the respondents indicated that butter was stored and marketed at ambient temperature with no cold chain management. Common butter storage materials included high-density polyethylene containers (51%), low-density polyethylene plastic bags (29%) and clay pots (73%). The respondents packed and marketed butter using castor leaves, plastic cups and false banana leaves and lints. Stream, river and borehole water sources were used to wash vessels, churners and fresh butter. However, only 23% of the respondents used tap water for the same purposes. The majority of the respondents trekked on their foot to take butter to local market places followed by the use of horse carts (11%) and three-wheel drives (10%). Itinerant traders and retailers played key roles in the informal supply chain of butter. Overall, there are no standard operating procedures and infrastructures along the supply chain. Thus, local butter supplied to consumers is liable to sensorial, physico-chemical and microbial deterioration and is exposed to risks of food-borne pathogens. The practices endanger the safety and quality of local butter unless stringent quality control measures are taken by concerned regulatory bodies. The objective of the study was to identify risk factors and design intervention to minimize the food safety hazards in butter

Assessment of butter adulteration practices and associated food safety issues along the supply chain in traditional communities in the central highlands and southwest midlands of Ethiopia

Butter adulteration practices and their health risks were assessed along the supply chains in the central highlands and south-western midlands of Ethiopia. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 1101 respondents. Based on the result of the cross-sectional study, fatty acid profiles of butter samples collected from retailers' shops were investigated to determine the extent of adulteration and understand the risks of food safety. The assessment showed that an average of 94% of the respondents were aware about practices of butter adulteration. The common butter adulterants identified include different brands of hydrogenated vegetable oils, Irish potato puree, banana pulps, water, melted tallow, wheat/maize dough, and buttermilk. The practice of adulteration significantly differed (P<0.05) along the supply chain and increased from farm markets to the retail shops. Economically motivated adulteration is the main reason for adulteration and resulted in up to 50 % of butter spoilage. There were significant differences between the fatty acid profiles of pure butter, retailers' butter, pure butter intentionally adulterated with hydrogenated oil, potato puree, and banana pulp, respectively, and pure hydrogenated oil. The presence of methyl oleate, gondoic and eicosadienoic acids in the retailers' butter might be due to adulteration with hydrogenated oils and banana pulps. The study showed the presence of multiple stage adulteration along the supply chain which could endanger the safety and quality of local butter. Policy makers and regulatory bodies in the area can use the information to improve the safety and quality of local butter along the supply chain