HIPPURIC AND BENZOIC-ACID IN MILK AND DAI RY-PRODUCTS

In the process of dairy product manufacture in fact all technologicall y used microorganisms produce benzoic acid as a result of hippuric aci d hydrolysis. The provision concerning the absence of benzoic acid in the assortment of these products in the Czech market, as established b y the effective hygienic regulations, has to be revised. It is a commo nly known fact that benzoic acid, which has bactericidal effects, is a n innate component of plants, fruits and vegetables. The concentration s of this acid are related both to the plant species and to the growin g season. Benzoic acid gets with the vegetable feed to the digestive t racts of ruminants where it undergoes regular biochemical processes. T he presence of hippuric acid in milk predicts that this organic acid p asses to dairy products, eg. cheese and yoghurts. But numerous analyse s of these dairy products show that they hardly contain any hippuric a cid in fact.