In 2024, the Hungarian Dairy Research Institute Ltd. (HDRI) contacted the dairy research organizations and companies of the Visegrád countries with the aim of initiating a cross-border dialogue on product quality and food safety issues affecting the dairy sector, and to seek professional and regulatory solutions to the challenges of dairy industry together.
The outcome of this initiative was the establishment of a macro-regional cooperation network at the beginning of April 2025 with participants from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
The innovative professional initiative was first embraced then supported by the Visegrad Fund. HDRI hosted the first international professional workshop, during which the “MILKCHECK” network was established with the participation of dairy research institutes, university researchers, and dariy company experts.
Dr. Róbert Kocsis, Managing Director of HDRI, stated at the launch of the collaboration:
“Through the cross-border cooperation ’MILKCHECK’ project, our goal is to promote professional dialogue, as food safety and quality issues often transcend national borders and should be addressed at the macro-regional level. We will work together on the development of shared databases, and through the coordinated analysis of aflatoxin incidents and Prototheca cases affecting dairy herds in recent years, we aim to compare laboratory procedures and raw milk testing methods. With this, we also wish to provide direction for future research and ensure that scientific findings and practical experience are incorporated into regulatory frameworks wherever possible.”
The participants of the workshop expressed their commitment to actively engage in the international collaboration by signing a joint declaration, agreeing to strengthen international and regional cooperation. The joint work continues under the coordination of HDRI.
More information about project objectives and partnership is available at MILKCHECK » MTKI.
