doiSerbia

Determination of staphylococcal enterotoxins in cheese by immunoenzyme assays

Janković Vesna (Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)
Đorđević Vesna (Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)
Lakićević Brankica (Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)
Borović Branka (Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)
Velebit B. (Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)
Mitrović Radmila (Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)

Staphylococcal food poisoning is one of the most common foodborne diseases resulting from the ingestion of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) preformed in foods by enterotoxigenic strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS), mainly Staphylococcus aureus. The presence of enterotoxigenic strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci in raw milk during the production process leads to the contamination of products and outbreaks of alimentary intoxication. The problem of Staphylococcus aureus in cheese remains significant on a global level. Domestic cheese contaminated with enterotoxigenic staphylococci can result in the formation of enterotoxin, which can produce foodborne illness when the product is ingested. Due to microbiological contamination, microbiological criteria are tools that can be used in assessing the safety and quality of foods. In order to avoid foodborne illness, the Serbian Regulation on General and Special Conditions for Food Hygiene (Official Gazette of RS, No. 72/10) provides microbiological criteria for staphylococcal enterotoxins in dairy products.

Keywords: Domestic cheese, staphylococcal enterotoxins, foodborne illness, immunoenzyme assays