Some microbiological characteristics of herbed cheeses

Abstract

Fifty herbed cheese samples, in which herbs (Allium spp.) were used at production, were analyzed for some microbiological quality characteristics. Cheese samples were collected from different retailers in four counties of Eastern Turkey. Presumptive coliform, bacteria, generic Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, mold and sulfite-reducing anaerobic bacteria counts were examined as general microbiologic quality parameters, and the average bacteria counts were 2.1 x 10(5), 3.1 x 10(4), 1.1 x 10(5), 2.2 x 10(7) 6.8 x 10(2), 7.0 x 10(6) and 3.2 x 10(1) cfu/g, respectively. The number of samples, in which the above selected bacteria have been detected, were 32 (64%), 29 (58%), 23 (46%), 50 (100%), 5 (10%), 46 (92%) and 9 (18%), respectively. Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 were targeted as foodborne pathogens, and the presence of those pathogens in samples were 10% (in five samples), 8% (in four samples) and 4% (in two samples), respectively. It was found that herbed cheeses containing foodborne pathogens raise an important risk for consumers' health. Standardization and modernization of herbed cheese production, in which hygienic conditions and quality controls would be applicable, seems a necessity in order to prevent possible public health risks from herbed cheeses.