THE PRESENCE OF PATHOGENIC BACTERIA IN TRADITIONAL CHEESE SOLD IN LOCAL MARKET IN HATAY PROVINCE, TURKEY

Contamination of cheese by foodborne pathogens may pose a risk for human health. Especially, microbiological quality of cheese sold in local market and produced on a small scale is generally lower than industrial production. The aim of the present research was to investigate the presence of pathogenic bacteria such as coagulase positive staphylococci, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. in twenty white cheese samples from local market on a small scale in the province of Hatay, Turkey. In this study, none of cheese samples contained L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. while E. coli and coagulase positive staphylococci were detected in cheese samples. The higher prevalence of coagulase positive staphylococci (100%) than E. coli (65%) were detected in cheese samples, but contamination levels of E. coli (mean 4.05 log cfu/g) were found higher that coagulase positive staphylococci (mean 2.47 log cfu/g) in terms of viable cell counts of pathogenic bacteria in cheese samples. The present results indicated that traditional cheeses manufactured in Hatay province were generally satisfactory microbiological safety according to Turkish Food Safety Criteria. As a result, the presence of pathogenic bacteria in traditional cheese from Hatay region could cause outbreaks affecting public health and reduce positive impression on traditional cheeses which have potential for geographical indication.