Avaliação microbiológica de queijos Minas frescal comercializados nas cidades de Arapongas e Londrina – PR.

Abstract

Among the different types of cheese that exist in Brazil, the “Minas frescal” fresh cheese is an outstanding type, since it is largely consumed by the population, and it is frequently produced in an artisanal manner, oftentimes under precarious conditions of hygiene. Since it is a food product that has a high percentage of humidity and low amount of salt, Minas cheese is susceptible to microbial contaminations resulting from both the milk utilized as raw material as well as crossed contaminations at post processing. The contaminant microorganisms may cause deterioration of the product as well as illness to those who consume them. The purpose of this work was to verify the occurrence of S. aureus, E. coli  a d total coliforms in 45 samples of Minas cheese commercialized in Londrina and Arapongas. The research for E. coli and coliforms was carried out by utilizing Petrifilm dishes for coliforms and E. coli  (3M), which, after seeding, were incubated at 35º C/48 hours. The population of Staphylococcus aureus  was obtained on Petrifilm Stap   Express (3M) incubated at 35ºC/24 hours after seeding. Forty-two samples (93,3%) did not meet legal standards, thus being inadequate for consumption, considering that the majority of positive samples contained more than 10 4 UFC/g of S. aureus or total coliforms, and more than 10 3 UFC/g of E. coli. In addition, the occurrence of  S. aureus was greater in cheese without inspection (93,3%) than in inspected cheese (36,7%).