PRODUCTION OF STAPHYLOCOCCAL ENTEROTOXIN-A IN WHITE CHEESE

White cheese has been involved in many staphylococcal food poisoning o utbreaks in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Experiments were conducted to determine at what stage in the making of white cheese is the enterotox in produced that is the cause of staphylococcal food poisoning. Pasteu rized milk was inoculated with 10(2) and 10(4) cfu/ml of an enterotoxi n A-producing Staphylococcus aureus strain and incubated at 26-degrees -C-27-degrees-C for varying lengths of time before making the cheese. The milk, samples of the curd, and day-old cheese were used for determ ining staphylococcal count and the presence of enterotoxin. No enterot oxin was detectable in the cheese made from the milk inoculated with 1 0(2) Cfu/ml. Enterotoxin was detectable in the cheese curd made from t he milk inoculated with 10(4) cfu/ml after it had been held for 5 hour s and was present in all cheese samples.