Effect of Packaging Containers on the Bacteriological Profile of Soft Cheese

The effect of packaging containers (Plastic and cardboard) on the bacteriological profile of Egyptian soft cheese was studied at plant level. Samples were taken during the line of packaging from 3 stages (Cheese just before packaging, packaging containers and cheese after packaging). All bacterial groups (Aerobic plate count "APC", Aerobic sporeformers, Coliform, Staphylococci and Enterococci counts) were high after packaging either in plastic or cardboard laminated containers. The APC increased from 3.26x104 ± 0.46x104 to 1.91x105 ± 0.33x105 cfu/g in cheese after packaging in plastic containers and from 1.62x104 ± 0.27x104 to 7.09x104 ± 2.16x104 cfu/g after cardboard packaging. There were significant (p<0.05) positive relationship between the level of soft cheese contamination (Especially with APC, Aerobic sporeformers and Staphylococci) as a result of their packaging in plastic containers (0.67, 0.58 and 0.72, respectively) and cardboard laminated sheets (0.60, 0.53 and 0.51, respectively). Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Kliebsilla, Bacillus, Staphylococci and Enterococci species were detected in the examined soft cheese samples packaged in plastic and cardboard containers and also from the containers themselves with different percentages. In conclusion, plastic containers were found to be an obvious source for contamination of Egyptian soft cheese with different types of microorganisms as comparing with cardboard laminated packaging.