IDENTITY AND QUALITY STANDARD OF COLONIAL AND PRATO CHEESE, SOLD IN MEDIANEIRA CITY

Abstract

The present study relate the hygienic and sanitary quality of Colonial and Prato cheeses, commercialized in supermarkets and free markets of Medianeira-PR. Microbiological (Salmonella sp., total and thermo-tolerant coliforms and Staphylococci coagulase-positive), physical-chemical (determination of fat, moisture and fat content on dry extract) and microscopic analyses were conducted in eight samples of Colonial cheese and eight samples of Prato cheese in two separate batches. According to the results, 50% of Colonial cheese samples were in disagreement with the current legislation for thermotolerant coliforms and 12.5% of samples showed Staphylococci coagulase-positive above the standards. Samples of Prato cheese showed heterogeneity among them and were in disagreement with the standard of identity. Colonial cheese presented a large amount of dirtiness, probabily due to the characteristics of the raw material and inadequate processing.