European Union Regulations on Production of Milk

National legal frameworks are a key pillar in an effective food control system. In all countries, food is governed by a complexity of laws and regulations which set out the government’s requirements to be met by food chain operators to ensure the food is safe and of adequate quality.

Generally, the so called “food law” is used to apply to legislation which regulates the production, trade and handling of food and hence covers the regulation of food control, food safety and other aspects of food trade. Minimum quality requirements are included in the food law to ensure the foods produced are pure and are not subjected to any obtained  practices intended to deceive the consumer. In addition, food law should cover the total chain beginning with provisions for animal feed, on-farm controls and early processing through to final distribution and use by the consumer.

The production of milk starts on a dairy farm which is usually relatively close to the market due to difficulties in transportation and preservation. 

To produce safe raw milk, dairy farmers should maintain strict cleanliness, check milk and animals regularly and prevent contamination. Dairy farmers should follow basic principles of general cleanliness, as set out in EU regulations. These include:
• making sure teats, udders and adjacent parts are clean before cluster attachment
• using pre and post milking teat disinfectants (teat dips and sprays) according to the manufacturer’s instructions
• keeping dip cups and spray devices visually clean
• cleaning excessive dung from floors and stallwork
• keeping milking equipment clean at all times
• examine the milk from each animal at each milking before milking that animal
• separate abnormal milk and do not use it for human consumption
• separate milk from animals showing clinical signs of udder disease and do not use it for human consumption
• identify any animals which are producing milk unfit for human consumption and then mark them to ensure that their milk is kept out of the food chain

To prevent contamination of milk and spreading of germs, the milking area should also fit in to the standards set by the EU regulations. The milking area should be sited and constructed to ensure satisfactory hygienic conditions during milking. The area and immediate surroundings must be kept clean and there should be an adequate supply of clean water in the area for cleaning.
Before milking animals in a cowshed, you should make sure the floor under the cows, dung channels and operator walkways are clean. You should manage these areas during milking to reduce the risk of contamination. Storing milking units in a cowshed is prohibited.

Milk has to be stored properly as well to prevent its safety before transportation. A milk storage room is considered a food storage area. As such, it should be used only to cool and store milk, and for the cleaning and storage of milking equipment. The room should be clean at all times and must be sited in a clean area, away from obvious sources of contamination. 

Milk is defined by the EU as the produce of the milking of one or more farmed animals. Drinking milk is a product intended for delivery or sale, without further processing for consumers, either directly or through intermediaries such as restaurants or hospitals. Drinking milk can be:

• raw - not heated above 40°C or treated for the same effect

• whole - heat treated with the fat content of at least 3.5 percent

• semi-skimmed - heat treated with fat content of between 1.5 percent and 1.8 per cent 

• skimmed - heat treated with fat content of 0.5 percent maximum

         Milk can be transported in milk cans or bulk tankers, which should be suitable for effective cleaning and sanitization. Generally, milk from small-scale milk producers is transported in milk cans by the producers themselves or by milk collectors (informal traders and intermediaries). Milk collectors usually collect milk cans from several producers and then transport them – by bicycle, animal, vehicle or foot – to local/urban markets, family shops, stands, canteens or small-scale processing plants. Milk in cans is uncooled or barely cooled, so the duration of transport is of primary importance in ensuring the delivery of good-quality milk. An advantage of using milk cans is that the milk from different producers is not mixed, avoiding the risk of spoiling good milk with low-quality batches. The milk produced in large-scale commercial dairy operations is usually transported in bulk tankers. As milk tankers are insulated, the milk is still cool when it arrives at its destination and unlikely to turn sour before reaching a distant processing plant or market.

When the milk is safely obtained, stored and transported to the markets, people can buy and consume the milk without worrying about buying a contaminated product. 

The History of Political Geogrpahy of Salzburg, Austria

The history of political geography of Austria has always been very interesting as it was filled with many events that completely changed the world's view on this country. The last 100 years of its history are the most intriguing years because almost the whole world was involved.

Austro-Hungarian empire was one of the most powerful nations in the world before WWI. The war began in 1914, when on 28th of June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated during his visit to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.That was the spark for one of the major wars in the history of the world.

This is how Austro-Hungarian empire looked like is 1914:






In 1918, World War I ended but brought many problems to the majority of countries involved in it. Austria-Hungary was not an exception. After the war, the monarchy, that existed in Austria for hundreds of years, collapsed. The capital cities of Vienna and Budapest, the leftist and liberal movements and the opposition parties strengthened and supported the separatism of ethnic minorities because the empire consisted of many ethnic and cultural groups at that time. These parties opposed the monarchy as a form of government and considered themselves internationalist rather than patriotic. Eventually, the German defeat and the minor revolutions in Vienna and Budapest gave political power to the liberal political parties. As it became apparent that the Allied powers of the British Empire, France, Italy and the United States would win World War I, nationalist movements, which had previously been calling for a greater degree of autonomy for various areas, started pressing for full independence. The Emperor had lost much of his power to rule and the monarchy stopped existing.

Basically, after WWI the victorious nations decided to separate the ethnic minorities, destroying the empire. As a result, the Republic of Austria lost roughly 60% of the old Austrian Empire's territory. The first Austrian Republic was established in 1919.

This is how borders looked after the dissolution:

Another major event in the history of political geography of Austria was the Anschluss, or the annexation. It was the Nazi propaganda term for the invasion and incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. Hitler wanted to unite Germany and Austria in order to establish the Great Third Reich and regain all the territory that was lost after WWI. Knowing, that Austrian people would vote for independence, Hitler threatens to invade the country.

This is how the borders looked like during the occupation:






The annexation of Austria lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies and Austria' former democratic constitution was restored.
However, in the immediate aftermath of the war, Austria, like Germany, was divided into four occupation zones and jointly occupied by the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France. Vienna, like Berlin, was similarly subdivided but the central district was administered jointly by the Allied Control Council.



Salzburg was part of the United States occupation zone.

In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality  which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral. Today, Austria still remains it's neutrality and it is  a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states.
Current map of Austria:

The city of Salzburg


Following World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; Salzburg, as the capital of one of the Austro-Hungarian territories, became part of the new German Austria. In 1918, it represented the residual German-speaking territories of the Austrian heartlands. This was replaced by the First Austrian Republic in 1919, after the Treaty of Versailles.

The Anschluss (the occupation and annexation of Austria, including Salzburg, into German Third Reich) took place the 12 March 1938, one day before a scheduled referendum about Austria's independence.

Following World War II, Salzburg was the center of the American-occupied area in Austria.

Today, Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg has its own state constitution since 1999. The state government (Landesregierung) is headed by a Landeshauptmann ('State Captain') governor, who is elected by a majority in the Landtag parliament. State elections are held every five years.

As a citizen, living on Moostrasse 106, I would be represented by two political parties: Social Democratic Party of Austria and Austrian People's party.






Works cited:
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/map-austro-hungarian-empire-1914

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria-Hungary

http://www.historyonthenet.com/nazi_germany/anschluss.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied-occupied_Austria