Risk linked to an enterotoxigenic strain of Staphylococcus lentus during the manufacture and ripening of raw goats' milk Camembert-type cheeses

Growth and enterotoxin production of an enterotoxigenic strain of Staphyloc occus lentus during manufacture and ripening of Camembert type cheese from raw goats' milk were evaluated. The initial S. lentus inoculum added to mil l; was 1 x 10(6) cfu.ml(-1). Cheeses were prepared following the industrial specifications and ripened for 42 d. Bacterial enumeration was determined on Staph 110 agar medium and detection bf staphylococcal enterotoxins was d one by the Vidas SET test (bioMerieux). Generally, numbers of microbes increased at a similar rate during manufactu re in all cheeses until the salting. During the ripening period, the aerobi c plate count population and coagulase-negative staphylococci levels remain ed stable and high. In spite of levels of coagulase-negative staphylococci higher than 8 x 10(7) cfu.g(-1), no staphylococcal enterotoxin was detected in cheeses in this study. But it is premature to dismiss a possible health hazard caused by dairy products that may contain higher enterotoxin produc er CNS strains.