No abstract

Kefir yeasts were investigated for their possible virulence using an in vitro system. Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) cluster analysis of 46 biochemical traits showed that all kefir isolates formed clusters distinct from Candida albicans. No isolate showed N‐acetylglucosaminidase activity, which is involved in resistance against host immune systems. All Kluyveromyces marxianus isolates formed pseudohyphae and grew at 42 °C, whereas Saccharomyces unisporus isolates did not. None of the kefir yeasts had proteolytic or haemolytic activities. All K. marxianus isolates were susceptible to fluconazole, whereas S. unisporus isolates were classified as resistant.

No abstract

This study was performed to provide baseline data for developing strategies for expanding the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification rate using an awareness survey of dairy farmers. A 44-item questionnaire was used to survey randomly selected respondents comprising 84 HACCP-certified and 75 noncertified dairy farms. The quality of raw milk in terms of bacterial and somatic cell count in HACCP-certified farms was statistically (P < 0.05) higher compared with the milk in noncertified farms. Similarly, milk fat and milk protein were statistically (P < 0.05) superior in HACCP-certified farms. The study finds that the practical barriers to implementing HACCP include inadequate financial assistance, incentive programmes, HACCP consulting and education, consumer awareness and knowledge about HACCP-certified products, streamlined recording systems, and farm-oriented mobile operations and maintenance systems. These findings can contribute to the development strategies to increase the rate of HACCP certification of dairy farms around the world.

In this study, the contamination levels of hygienic indicators and foodborne pathogens in retail meat products were investigated in relation to the various market factors including processing temperature, processing area, and market type. Ground beef samples (n=80) were purchased from 40 meat markets and investigated for microbiological quality. Beefs processed below 20℃ had significantly lower numbers of total coliforms (TC) than these processed over 20℃ (2.01 vs. 2.79 log CFU/g; p<0.05). Interestingly, separation of processing area did not affect the contamination levels. Remarkably, the contamination levels of hygienic indicator differ among market types, indicating that not only processing condition but distribution structure that is directly related with storage period could affect the final microbiological loads of the meat products. In addition, the prevalences of Listeria monocytogenes (a psychrotroph), Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus faecalis were 7.5% (6/80), 10.0% (8/80), and 20.0% (16/80), respectively, which is irrelevant to market factors except meat products from wholesale markets where no L. monocytogenes were found among 30 samples. The results of this study indicate that the contamination level of hygiene indicator and foodborne pathogens in retail beef is more related with processing temperature and storage period than other environmental factors.