The sanitary quality of raw milk is an important issue in Uganda for social, economical and healthy reasons. A survey on milk quality was carried out in Mbarara major milk producing region in Uganda, between June and August 2004. The milk production system described in this paper has largely remained unchanged up to now. Milk quality was analysed at six stages of the commodity chain: farm, bicycle collector at the farm level, pick-up collecting centre, milk collecting centre, urban cooler, and vendor in Kampala city at the urban cooler level. Milk quality was evaluated using platform tests (Clot on boiling (COB), Alcohol test, milk temperature and density) and microbiological tests (total plate count, total and faecal coliforms,
Escherichia coli
count). Approximately half of the total coliform count was attributed to fecal coliforms including
E. coli. This indicates great possibility of the occurrence of enteric pathogens in milk. This is partly confirmed by the large count of
E. coli. The bacteria load reached very high levels close to 2 x 10
6ation for developing a technical and scientific basis for milk quality improvement in Uganda.
