Sanitary evaluation of curd dairy products

A total of 90 samples, [30 of each plain yogurt, Kareish cheese, and Ras cheese] were randomly collected from street-vendors, groceries and supermarkets of different sanitary levels in Mansoura city, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. All samples were subjected to sanitary, chemical and microbiological evaluation. The mean values of acidity% and fat% in plain yogurt, Kareish cheese, and Ras cheese were 0.644 +/- 0.106, 1.5 +/- 0.066, 1.97 +/- 0.0578; 0.64 +/- 0.124, 5.88 +/- 0.7004 and 48.94 +/- 0.43, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean values of protein%, lactose%, and SNF% in plain yoghurt were 2.2 +/- 0.094, 3.28 +/- 0.138 and 5.98 +/- 0.25, respectively. The mean values of salt% and moisture% in Kareish cheese and Ras cheese were 2.55 +/- 0.248, 2.38 +/- 0.079; 67.18 +/- 0.891 and 32.75 +/- 0.899, respectively. The main values of Staphylococcus aureus, Coliforms and Enterococci count in plain yoghurt, Kareish cheese and Ras cheese samples were 9.2x10[4] +/- 2.9x10[4], 4.12x10[5] +/- 1.3x10[5], 4.64x10[5] +/- 8.82x10[4]; 10.5x10[4] +/- 2.16x10[4], 6.65x10[5] +/- 1.27x10[5], 2.39x10[5] +/- 6.54x10[4]; 9.99x10[5] +/- 1.94x10[5], 3.73x10[5] +/- 6.11x10[4] and 3.38x10[5] +/- 9.17x10[4] cfu/g, respectively. The mean values of yeast and mold count in Kareish cheese and Ras cheese were 1.27x10[5] +/- 1.24x10[4], 3.82x10[4] +/- 3.48x10[3]; 1.16x10[5] +/- 4.24x10[4] and 7.06x10[4] +/- 3.27x10[4] cfu/g, respectively. Thus, strict hygienic measures should be followed during processing, handling and distribution to improve the hygienic quality of plain yoghurt, Kareish cheese and Ras cheese

Mycological evaluation of imported frozen fish

A total number of 100 samples of four types of frozen fish [Barbone, Sardine, Baca and Mackerel] were collected from different Alexandria markets. The samples were subjected to mycological tests to evaluate the fungal load of these frozen fish. The result showed that the predominant genera of the isolated mould from the 4 types of fish were Asperigellus spp. and Penicillium spp. In addition to other mould isolates these were Cladosporium spp., Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp., Nigrosporium spp., Paecilomyces spp., Mucor spp. and Rhizopus spp. It showed also that the predominant genus of isolated yeast, from the 4 types of fish, was Candida spp. and the other isolated yeast were Torulopsis spp., Rhodotorulla spp. and Geotrichium spp. This study showed how these types of frozen fish were being contaminated from different sources by yeast and mould. Also, the hazardous and public health importance of such contaminants were fully discussed and suggested recommendations to improve its quality and safety were explained to be implemented