I hate to relate this to the dairy industry, but i have farming family
members and the milk company tests every vat-lot of milk they collect. The
farmers get a black mark and heavy penalties if there are "grades" ie high
bacteria counts and if mastitis-affected milk gets into the vat they are in
biggggg trouble.
So there is a lot of debate about washing cow's teats before putting the
cups on - and I think the consensus is it makes no difference. I will check
with those more in the know, but think of what cows lie in, and flick around
with their tails....
Can't imagine that you could wash off skin flora from women either.

Fiona Hermann
midwife (and daughter of a dairy farmer who prides himself on having
squeaky-clean milk)
Hamilton
New Zealand

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