Survey on the presence of contaminant bacteria in water used in dairy farms

Abstract

Until now there are no specific laws about the characteristics of water used in primary production. The aim of this work is to verify water’s quality used by farms in the primary production phase, particularly when the quality of water can influence food safety. From January 2009 to June 2012, 910 samples for Enterococci, Escherichia coli and Total Coliforms contamination, 738 samples for Pseudomonas aeru-ginosa contamination and 504 samples for Total Microbial Count at 22°C and 36°C contamination were analyzed on the occasion of the official control. Each sample was split up into rates of 100 ml, each of these filtrated on a cellulose membrane Milliflex® and isolated on selective medium specific for the dif-ferent determinations. Regarding Enterococci, E. coli and Total Coliforms contamination, data point out a decrease of the percentage of samples whit values of >10 CFU/ml from 2009 to 2012. Also for P.aeruginosa a constant decrease of the percentage of positive samples can be noted.

Keywords

• Primary Production, Water, Food Safety