Occurrence of foodborne pathogens and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus in cheese produced on farm-dairies.

The objective of this study was to address knowledge gaps identified in an earlier risk assessment of Staphylococcus aureus and raw milk cheese. A survey of fresh and short-time ripened cheeses produced on farm-dairies in Sweden was conducted to investigate the occurrence and levels of S. aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli, to characterize S.

Quantitative microbial risk assessment exemplified by Staphylococcus aureus in unripened cheese made from raw milk.

This paper discusses some of the developments and problems in the field of quantitative microbial risk assessment, especially exposure assessment and probabilistic risk assessment models. To illustrate some of the topics, an initial risk assessment was presented, in which predictive microbiology and survey data were combined with probabilistic modelling to simulate the level of Staphylococcus aureus in unripened cheese made from raw milk at the time of consumption. Due to limited data and absence of dose-response models, a complete risk assessment was not possible.