Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in Milk and Dairy Products

Abstract

A total of 163 samples of milk and milk products (including raw milk, Damietta and Kareish cheese, hard and processed cheese, yogurt, butter and ice cream) were collected from Assiut City markets. Clostridium perfringens was detected in 45.5, 20, 30, 14.3, 20, 10, 50 and 20% of the examined samples, respectively, using SPS agar. With TSN agar, the organism was isolated from 72.7, 20, 30, 28.6, 50, 10, 50, and 30% of the samples, respectively. The mean value of the C. perfringens count using SPS agar was 53.6/ml, 40/g, 60/g, 14.3/g, 30/g, 1.4/g, 25/g and 8/ml of raw milk, Damietta and Kareish cheese, hard and processed cheese, yogurt, butter and ice cream samples, respectively, while the mean values of C. perfringens counts obtained with TSN agar were 76.4/ml, 170/g, 140/g, 42.9/g, 590/g, 2.9/g, 172.9/g, and 109/ml of examined samples, respectively. Milk and dairy products, if improperly handled, provide a means for transmission of C. perfringens to the consumer.