Abstract
Introduction: spoiled milk can cause gastrointestinal illnesses. Milk spoilage is often due to the growth of psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria commonly found in farm environments. Methods: bacteria were isolated from bulk tank milk. On nutrient and selective medium (chromocult and blood), serial dilutions of the milk were produced and plated. Cell morphology was used to identify isolates, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry was used to characterize them. Results: utilizing matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, 93.5% of bacteria were identified down to the species level. Six and a half percent, however, were just genus-identified. Conclusion: according to the findings, milk contamination originated from a common source. The results further suggest that additional sources of contamination might include milk tanks. The results demonstrate that the milk tanks' hygiene standards do not meet the criteria of South Africa's Milk and Milk Products Regulations (R1555 of 1997).