BB-rel+ner@ldeleger:BB-rel+ner-F-25064656-012 JSONTXT

Figure 6 shows that the fecal contaminant E. faecalis was found to be present in the raw milk cheeses (0.6%) in the present study but that its counts were very low in the pasteurized milk cheeses (less than 0.05%). These differences are mainly due to the nature of the milk used in raw milk cheeses, which may still be contaminated with bacteria that are either a source of typicality (C. casei and E. faecalis) or a microbiological hazard (E. faecalis). Usually, the most common enterococci encountered in cheese are E. faecalis and Enterococcus faecium, with E. faecium being the most frequently occurring species in dairy cows ( Gelsomino et al., 2002). Indeed, E. faecium was identified in our raw milk cheese samples (0.3%). In addition, Enterococcus casseliflavus, already previously described in cheese ( Gelsomino et al., 2001, 2002), was also detected in our samples (0.3% in raw milk cheeses and 0.1% in pasteurized milk cheeses).