Hygienic properties of marketed cheeses

Abstract

From October 1992 to April 1993, 107 samples of natural cheeses and processed cheeses, purchased from 11 supermarkets in Taipei, were analyzed for both physical and hygienic properties. Processed cheeses (PC) and natural cheeses (NC) showed the following properties: pH, 5.2 - 6.2 (PC), 5.0 - 6.8 (NC); moisture content, 25.82 - 49.87% (PC), 14.75 - 54.51% (NC); ash content, 4.02 - 6.86% (PC), 2.90 - 7.35% (NC); salt content, 0.20 - 2.63% (PC), 0.06 - 3.35% (NC); brine content, 0.63 - 7.08% (PC), 0.20 - 14.41% (NC). Total bacterial counts of these two categories ranged between <10 - 7.8 × 105 CFU/g (PC) and <10 - 1.0 × 108 CFU/g (NC), and yeasts & molds, <10-9.1 × 105 CFU/g (PC) and <10 - 2.2 × 106 CFU/g (NC). E. coli was not detected in any of the samples, except one sample of processed cheese was contaminated with 30 CFU/g of coliform. There were significant differences in pH value, moisture and ash content (p<0.05) between processed cheese and natural cheese. No significant relationship was found between physical and hygienic properties (r<0.5).