A survey of the incidence of coagulase-positive staphylococci in market milk and cheese in England and Wales

Abstract

Summary The occurrence of coagulase-positive staphylococci in 954 samples of raw or heat-treated market milk and in 910 samples of cheese of different varieties, taken at 40 cheese factories or farms in England and Wales was determined. Only 9% of the cheeses contained more than 500 000 staphylococci/g, and these were all made from raw milk. All but the mildest of the heat treatments used were effective in greatly reducing the numbers of staphylococci present in milk and usually resulted in cheese virtually free from staphylococci. The effect of sublethal heat treatment on multiplication of these organisms in cheese curd is discussed.