ISOLATION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES AND OTHER LISTERIA SPECIES FROM MILK AND SOME DAIRY PRODUCTS

Document Type : Research article

Author

Dept. of Food Hygiene, Fac. of Vet. Med., Assiut Univ.

Abstract

Two-hundred random samples of raw milk, Domiati cheese, cooking butter and yoghurt (50 each) were collected from street vendors, different local supermarkets, dairy farms and dairy shops in Assiut city, Egypt. The samples were examined bacteriologically for the presence of L.
monocytogenes and other Listeria spp. The obtained results revealed that L. monocytogenes was found in one sample (2%) of both raw milk and Domiati cheese, while the organism failed detection in the examined cooking butter and yoghurt samples. However, L. innocua could be isolated from one (2%) and 2 (4%) of the examined raw milk and cooking butter samples, respectively. Also, 4 (8%) of cooking butter samples proved to harbour L. welshimeri. The public health importance of Listeria spp. in milk and dairy products and the suggestive measures were discussed.

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