Microbial quality of industrial and retail market grated parmesan cheese in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil/ Comparacao da qualidade microbiologica de queijos tipo parmesao ralados industrialmente e no comercio varejista no Estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil

With the objective to evaluate the hygienic and sanitary conditions of grated parmesan cheese acquired from the retail business, total 120 cheese samples were acquired: 60 of which were obtained from four different brands of cheese that were grated in factories, and the other 60 samples were obtained from another four brands of cheese that are normally acquired by retailers (supermarkets) in blocks and grated at the moment of sale. The population of heterotrophic mesophilic microorganisms ranged from 1.2 x [10.sup.3] to 1.1 x [10.sup.7] colony-forming units (CFU) x [g.sup.-1]. All samples analyzed contained Staphylococcus spp. with populations varying from 1.2 x [10.sup.3] to 8.7 x [10.sup.6]CFU x [g.sup.-1], from which 60.0% were classified as coagulase-positive Staphylococcus and 52.5% of the samples possessed populations above the permissible limit set by legislation. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in 57.5% of the samples. Population of molds and yeasts varied from