Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (Jun 2003)
Fontes de contaminação por Staphylococcus aureus na linha de processamento de queijo prato Identification of main sources of contamination with Staphylococcus aureus in Prato cheese manufacturing process
Abstract
Com o objetivo de identificar as principais fontes de contaminação por Staphylococcus aureus e Staphylococcus produtores de coagulase (SC+), avaliou-se o processo de fabricação de queijo prato em um laticínio de Lavras, MG, durante os meses de outubro de 2000 a abril de 2001. As análises microbiológicas foram feitas no leite cru, no leite pasteurizado resfriado, nas mãos e antebraços dos funcionários, na salmoura, na água de imersão das fôrmas e no queijo embalado. Contagens elevadas de SC+ e de S. aureus (4x10³ a 4,8x10(6) UFC/ml e 4x10³ a 3,3x10(5) UFC/ml, respectivamente) foram encontradas em quatro avaliações no leite cru. Após a pasteurização, as contagens foram reduzidas a In order to identify the main sources of contamination with Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus coagulase positive (SC+), a manufacture process of prato cheese in a plant located in Lavras, State of Minas Gerais, was evaluated five times from October/2000 to April/2001. Raw and pasteurized milk, hand and forearms of cheese makers, brine, hoops flushing water and cheeses were analyzed for SC+ and S. aureus. High counts of SC+ and S. aureus (4x10³ to 4.8x10(6) CFU/ml and 4x10³ to 3.3x10(5) CFU/ml, respectively) were found in raw milk in four evaluations, but they decreased to values lower than 1 CFU/ml after pasteurization. In three evaluations, counts of SC+ in prato cheese samples were above legal limits (10(4), 10(5) and 2.3x10(5) CFU/g). The hoops flushing water and brine were not important contamination sources, both with counts lower than 1CFU/ml. The cheese makers probably were the main source of contamination, since high counts in cheese were correlated to high counts in their hands (4x10² CFU/cm²) or forearms (4.7x10² and 3.3x10³ CFU/cm²).
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