ABSTRACT
Production of cheese is a process of concentrating milk by the interaction of the milk, starter cultures and in most cases rennet. Traditionally cheese has been produced in small vats, but during the last 3 to 4 decades, processing has become increasingly industrialized. Before industrialisation, little attention was directed toward the hygienic aspects of cheesemaking, partly because the batch sizes were small and partly because methods of analysis were not well developed, consumption of cheese would normally cause only a few disease cases. In the recent years,
more attention is being given to the hygienic aspects for several reasons: Methods for detecting pathogens have improved; more focus on emerging pathogens like Listeria and E. coli H7:O157; and the larger batch sizes increase risk to larger numbers of consumers, if pathogens are present. Furthermore, because of the large batches, economical losses will be substantial if the quality is not acceptable. Finally an unacceptable quality in just a few batches from a producer may lead to loss of market shares. All these reasons have led to a considerable increase in attention on the hygienic aspects of cheesemaking. These aspects include a range of factors such as
tions between microorganisms, and the setting up control systems in order to prevent contamination, or at least inhibit the growth of pathogens.
