Coliform Contamination of Marketable Milk Sold in New Valley Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate the hygienic condition of marketable milk sold in New Valley Governorate by determination of coliforms contamination. One hundred and fifty marketable milk samples were collected from farmer’s houses, dairy farms and dairy shops and these samples were examined for coliform counts. The coliforms percentages were 20, 6 and 14% for concerning samples with average counts of 1.9X10⁴, 6.6X10⁴ and 4.6X10⁴cfu/ml, respectively. Moreover, Escherichia coli was found in 2, 2 and 4% of the analyzed milk samples, respectively. The serotypes of E. coli strains were O127:K63, O55, O114:K90 and O44:K74. Two strains carried intmin gene and all isolates didn’t contain hemolysin gene. On the other side, Enterobacter spp. was detected in percentages of 4, 2 and 4% in the farmer’s houses, dairy farms and dairy shop milk samples, respectively. Moreover, Cronobacter sakazakii was detected in 7(14%) of farmer’s houses and 4(8%) of dairy shop milk samples and it couldn’t be detected in dairy farms milk samples. The coliform contamination in marketable milk in New Valley Governorate reflects the unhygienic condition of milk production, therefore strict hygienic measures must be applied during milk production to safeguard consumers.