Tracking heat-resistant, cold-thriving fluid milk spoilage bacteria from farm to packaged product

J Dairy Sci. 2008 Mar;91(3):1218-28. doi: 10.3168/jds.2007-0697.

Abstract

Control of psychrotolerant endospore-forming spoilage bacteria, particularly Bacillus and Paenibacillus spp., is economically important to the dairy industry. These microbes form endospores that can survive high-temperature, short-time pasteurization; hence, their presence in raw milk represents a major potential cause of milk spoilage. A previously developed culture-dependent selection strategy and an rpoB sequence-based subtyping method were applied to bacterial isolates obtained from environmental samples collected on a New York State dairy farm. A total of 54 different rpoB allelic types putatively identified as Bacillus (75% of isolates), Paenibacillus (24%), and Sporosarcina spp. (1%) were identified among 93 isolates. Assembly of a broader data set, including 93 dairy farm isolates, 57 raw milk tank truck isolates, 138 dairy plant storage silo isolates, and 336 pasteurized milk isolates, identified a total of 154 rpoB allelic types, representing an extensive diversity of Bacillus and Paenibacillus spp. Our molecular subtype data clearly showed that certain endospore-forming bacterial subtypes are present in the dairy farm environment as well as in the processing plant. The potential for entry of these ubiquitous heat-resistant spoilage organisms into milk production and processing systems, from the dairy farm to the processing plant, represents a considerable challenge that will require a comprehensive farm-to-table approach to fluid milk quality.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Feed / microbiology
  • Animals
  • Bacillus / genetics
  • Bacillus / growth & development
  • Bacillus / isolation & purification
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Bacteria / growth & development*
  • Bacteria / isolation & purification
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Cattle
  • Cold Temperature
  • DNA, Bacterial / chemistry
  • Dairying / instrumentation
  • Equipment and Supplies / microbiology
  • Female
  • Food Handling / methods
  • Food Packaging
  • Food Preservation*
  • Hot Temperature
  • Housing, Animal
  • Milk / microbiology*
  • Quality Control
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Ribotyping
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Spores, Bacterial / physiology

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S