Behaviour of O157:H7 During the Manufacture and Ripening of an Italian Traditional Raw Goat Milk Cheese.

is a raw goat cheese produced from whole chilled goat milk; traditional technology involving unpasteurised milk and indigenous lactic starter cultures is employed for its production in Italy. The purpose of this study was to assess the behaviour of O157:H7 during the manufacturing and ripening of this raw goat milk cheese. Raw milk was experimentally inoculated with O157:H7 in a laboratory scale plant and the count was monitored during production and 30 days of ripening required for this cheese. Results showed that O157:H7 count increased to more than 1.5 Log cfu g during cheese production and remained constant until the end of ripening. The evidence that O157:H7 is able to survive during the manufacturing and ripening process suggests that the 30-day ripening period alone is insufficient to eliminate levels of viable O157:H7 in cheese and that the presence of low numbers of O157:H7 in milk destined for the production of raw goat milk cheeses could represent a potential source of infection for humans and a threat for consumers.