Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology

Abstract

Bacteriological Quality and Incidence of Some Pathogenic Bacteria in Fresh White Cheese Sold in Tripoli, Libya

Yahia S Abujnah, Liala S El Magdoli, Said O Gnan, Mufida K Eljabali and Rabya A Lahmer

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bacteriological quality and safety of fresh white cheese sold in Tripoli, Libya. The study lasted for approximately 7 months (November 2011-May 2012), during this period 87 fresh white cheese samples were collected from seven different areas (4 to 5 factories from each area with the rate of 3 duplicates). The samples were tested for the temperature at receiving, pH and acidity, total aerobic counts, total coliform counts and the detection of incidence of some pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Aeromonas hydrophila, and Listeria monocytogenes. Results indicated that the average temperature, % acidity, and pH of the tested samples were (15.80°C ± 5.8, 0.21 ± 0.02% and 5.81 ± 0.06) respectively. Data indicated that 70.1% of the samples exceeded the Libyan standard for white cheese No. 366 in respect to temperature, while the pH of all samples was within the limits of such standard. On the other hand, means of total aerobic counts, total coliform counts, and the numbers of Staphylococcus aureus were (38 × 107, 74 × 105, 35 × 104 and 53 × 103 cfu/g) respectively of the study.