Table 19.

Options to reduce antimicrobial‐resistant bacteria from milk and colostrum

Measure to reduce antimicrobial‐resistant bacteria	Evidence in support of the measure	Evidence against the measure	Advantages	Disadvantages
Pasteurisation of colostrum	Heating conditions are well documented in literature Effects on immunoglobulins and on calf health are well documented in literature	Some contradictory reports on the effect on immunoglobulin content in blood of calves fed pasteurised colostrum	Effective to kill resistant and other potentially pathogenic bacteria Can be performed at farm level (batch pasteurisation conditions may be applied) Pasteurised colostrum can be fed to calves	Not effective against antimicrobial residues Destroy any potential beneficial bacteria
Pasteurisation of raw milk	Evidence is substantial because of dairy practice and scientific publications	None	Effective to kill resistant and other potentially pathogenic bacteria Can be performed at farm level (batch pasteurisation may be applied) Pasteurised milk can be fed to calves	Not effective against antimicrobial residues Destroy any potential beneficial bacteria
Microfiltration of raw milk	Several scientific publications and practice in dairy industry	None	Milk content is not substantially changed to be fed to calves	Knowledge on actual efficiencies in raw milk is incomplete Incomplete elimination of bacteria Technically demanding Complicated to perform at the farm level
Centrifugation of raw milk and colostrum	Raw milk: several scientific publications and practice in dairy industry Colostrum: Verhegghe et al. (2015)	Less effective than pasteurisation	Milk and colostrum content are not substantially changed The immunoglobulins in the colostrum are not altered substantially	Complicated to perform at farm level (heating and centrifugation are needed)