Evaluation of Listeria spp. in environmental samples in a company of artisan production of fresh cheese in the Province of Los Santos

Abstract

The Listeria spp was evaluated in environmental samples taken in one artisanal production Company of White cottage cheese situated in Los Santos Province in Panama from December 2008 to March 2009. The samples were taken by triple in two places in the areas of direct contact and other two places in indirect contact with the food. Out of the 72 samples taken, the 70% was positive for the Listeria Spp., finding highly meaningful differences to the 99% of probability statistics in the quantification among the areas with direct contact (46.7%) and indirect one (36.3%) with the food.

In the isolations, Listeria monocytogenes was not detected in any of the positive samples for this patho­genic. Nevertheless, other species of Listeria were detected, among them: L. seeligeri, L. grayi y L. welshimeri, showing that Listeria monocytogenes may appear, with the probability to create potential reservoirs as biofilms.