Survival of Listeria innocua in Minas Traditional Serro cheese during ripening

• Published in: Food control Vol. 20; no. 12; pp. 1167 - 1170
• Main Authors: Pinto, Maximiliano Soares, de Carvalho, Antônio Fernandes, Pires, Ana Clarissa dos Santos, de Paula, Junio Cesar Jacinto, Sobral, Denise, Magalhães, Fernando Antônio Resplande
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2009
• Subjects: bacterial contamination; cheese ripening; cheeses; detection; food analysis; food composition; food contamination; fumonisin B1; Lactic acid bacteria; liquid chromatography; Listeria innocua; mass spectrometry; milk; milk analysis; milk composition; Minas Traditional Serro cheese; mortality; new methods; Serro cheese; traditional foods; Brazil; Minas Traditional Serro cheese; Lactic acid bacteria; Listeria innocua
• ISSN: 0956-7135; 1873-7129
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2009.02.007

Cheese produced with raw milk can be a risk to consumer health. It is known that lactic acid bacteria present in raw milk and in natural starters can produce antimicrobial compounds against some foodborne bacteria. This work aimed to evaluate the survival of Listeria innocua in Minas Traditional Serro cheese during cheese ripening. The cheeses were inoculated with 10 1, 10 2 or 10 3 CFU mL −1 of the bacterium and were analyzed for 60 days of ripening at 30 °C. It was observed that the time and the dose of bacteria inoculated affected ( p < 0.05) the survival of L. innocua. Even when the lowest dose was inoculated, at the end of the 60 days, approximately 10 2 CFU mL −1 of L. innocua was detected in the cheese. The lactic acid bacteria present in the milk and in the natural starter were not sufficient to guarantee the absence of L. innocua in Minas Traditional Serro cheese even after 60 days of storage, as is required by Brazilian legislation.