ANÁLISE MICROBIOLÓGICA DE QUEIJOS TIPO MINAS FRESCAL ORIUNDOS DE DIFERENTES FORMAS DE PRODUÇÃO.

Introduction: Minas Frescal cheese, which is obtained through milk coagulation, is widely consumed in Brazil, and presents a high moisture content, being a great way for microbial growth. That's why, for its production, it's necessary raw milk's pasteurization, besides good manufacturing techniques and practices following sanitary standards, thus avoiding serious contaminations caused by foodborne illness. Objective: the present study had as objective to evaluate the microbiologic quality of 3 Minas Frescal cheese samples coming from different manufacturing processes. Materials and methods: the microorganisms searched were total and thermotolerants coliforms, S. aureus and Salmonella spp. The origins of the samples were: industry, butchery and homemade/craft production. Results: from the 3 analyzed samples, the results were: the craft production and butchery ones presented above the allowed growth of total and thermotolerants coliforms; the 3 samples showed uncountable atypical colonies growth in the analysis of S. aureus preventing the count of the microorganisms in question; and none of them presented Salmonella spp's growth. Conclusion: thus, considering microbiologic quality, it was possible to conclude that only the industrialized Minas Frescal chesse is within standards given by ANVISA, while the other samples presented unsatisfactory results, which can harm the consumer's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]