Microbiological Characterization of Randomly Selected Portuguese Raw Milk Cheeses with Reference to Food Safety

Authors: Almeida, Gonçalo¹; Figueiredo, Alexandre¹; Rôla, Marta¹; Barros, Rui Manuel²; Gibbs, Paul¹; Hogg, Tim¹; Teixeira, Paula¹

Source: Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 70, Number 7, July 2007 , pp. 1710-1716(7)

Publisher: International Association for Food Protection

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Abstract:

Seventy raw milk cheeses made in different regions of Portugal, both hard and soft varieties, made with cow's, ewe's, or goat's milk or combinations of these, were sampled within their quoted shelf lives for microbiological safety. On the basis of the presence or numbers of Escherichia coli, E. coli O157, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes, cheeses were categorized as satisfactory, acceptable, unsatisfactory, or unacceptable and potentially hazardous. Twenty-two of the 70 cheeses were classified as satisfactory or acceptable. Thirty-seven of the cheeses were considered unsatisfactory because of the presence of E. coli, S. aureus, or both, while 11 of the cheeses were graded as unacceptable and potentially hazardous because of the presence of excessive numbers of S. aureus, E. coli, or L. monocytogenes and the presence of Salmonella in three of these. All cheeses graded as unacceptable and potentially hazardous were soft or semisoft cheeses made with ewe's and goat's milk, with the exception of two hard cheeses made with cow's milk. E. coli O157 was not detected in any of the cheeses. According to the present results, it seems that the presence or counts of pathogenic or indicator organisms in raw milk cheeses cannot be related to the processing conditions, milk type, or region of production.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200 072 Porto, Portugal 2: Biostrument Lda, Centro Empresarial de Biotecnologia, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200 072 Porto, Portugal

Publication date: 2007-07-01

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First published in 1937, the Journal of Food Protection^®, is a refereed monthly publication. Each issue contains scientific research and authoritative review articles reporting on a variety of topics in food science pertaining to food safety and quality. The Journal is internationally recognized as the leading publication in the field of food microbiology with a readership exceeding 11,000 scientists from 70 countries. The Journal of Food Protection^® is indexed in Index Medicus, Current Contents, BIOSIS, PubMed, Medline, and many others.

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Microbiological Characterization of Randomly Selected Portuguese Raw Milk Cheeses with Reference to Food Safety

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