Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. II
Written by Marisanna SPERONI, Sara CARÉ
The paper presents a non-systematic review about the relationship between welfare of dairy cows and quality of milk that they produce; the best demonstrated links are the effects of mastitis and oxidative stress on composition, shelf life, sensory and technological characteristics of milk and milk products. These evidences explained how specific aspects of animal welfare affected specific aspects of milk quality. Further interdisciplinary efforts should be made, in the light of the new strategy of the European Commission on animal welfare, new knowledge and emerging disciplines; welfare of dairy cows should be evaluated at farm level by a widely agreed protocol using outcome-based animal indicators; how and how much the animal welfare, measured in such way, affects the quality of milk should be studied by very large surveys and carefully designed experiments.
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animal welfare
