Quality and Safety of Milk and Dairy Products: From Animal Genetics to Consumer Health
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Product Quality and Safety".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 166
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Milk and dairy products remain essential components of human nutrition worldwide, with major implications for food security, public health, and the sustainability of animal production systems. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid not only to the physicochemical and microbiological quality of milk but also to the genetic, nutritional, technological, and environmental factors that influence dairy safety and functionality. Global trends in dairy science highlight the need for integrated approaches capable of improving milk quality at the farm level while also addressing consumer expectations related to health, digestibility, allergenicity, and product safety.
At the same time, important challenges and opportunities have emerged in relation to sustainable livestock breeding, genetic improvement of dairy species, food intolerances and allergies, antimicrobial safety, and the complex interaction between dairy components and the human gut microbiome. Genetic polymorphisms of major milk proteins, as well as modern genomic and molecular tools, are increasingly recognized as key elements in understanding the biological value of milk and its potential effects on consumer health.
This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to the quality and safety of milk and dairy products, with particular emphasis on the links between animal genetics, milk composition, dairy technology, food safety, and human health. We welcome contributions addressing biological, molecular, nutritional, veterinary, and food science perspectives on milk and dairy research.
Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Genetic polymorphisms of milk proteins and their effects on milk quality;
- Genomic and molecular approaches in dairy animal selection;
- Milk composition, digestibility, and allergenicity;
- Dairy products and food intolerances or allergies;
- Milk bioactive compounds and their implications for human health;
- Dairy consumption and gut microbiome interactions;
- Microbiological safety of milk and dairy products;
- Antibiotic residues, contaminants, and emerging dairy safety risks;
- Sustainable dairy production and animal health;
- Innovative strategies for improving the quality and safety of dairy products.
Dr. Andrei Cristian Gradinaru
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- milk quality
- dairy safety
- milk protein polymorphisms
- animal genetics
- sustainable dairy production
- food safety
- microbiome
- dairy allergy
- food intolerance
- public health
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