Abstract The consumption of raw milk cheese has been growing worldwide with S. aureus and E. coli been the leading agents in food poisoning. The present work aims to evaluate the microbiological quality of raw milk cheeses commercialized in Brazil, regarding microbiology safety and enterotoxin gene presence. Forty-three raw milk cheeses samples from five different suppliers were analyzed. Counting and identification of S. aureus, E. coli and Salmonella spp were performed according to BAM from the FDA. Further S. aureus identification was performed by the cydB and Salmonella spp by the invA gene. S. aureus toxin genes (sea, seb, sec, see, ses, seh and sei) and E. coli gene LT, STa, Stb, stx1, stx2, eae, rmpA, wabG, mrkD, kfu, mcgA, fimH and uge were analysed. From the 43 samples analyzed, 18 presented S. aureus with two isolates positive for the tst gene, two for the sec gene, two for the seh gene and four for the sei gene. Thirty-five E. coli and seven. Salmonella spp isolates were obtained. E. coli isolates harbored sta and stx2 genes. The results revealed that raw milk cheeses sold can cause harm consumer's health and highlights the importance of adoption good hygienic-sanitary practices and consumers awareness.

ABSTRACT The consumption of meat and meat products can pose consumers into risk due to the presence of biological hazards that can cause foodborne diseases. Thus, this study aimed to compare the microbiological quality of illegal and inspected salami sold in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. For this purpose, 80 salami samples (40 illegal and 40 inspected) were purchased and their microbiological quality was assessed according to the protocol established by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. All samples were considered as acceptable for consumption according to the Brazilian law. However, the samples of illegal salami were significantly higher contaminated with bacteria belonging to the genus Staphylococcus (p = 0.002) and had a higher trend to be contaminated with total coliforms (p = 0.08) and thermotolerant ones (p = 0.07) compared to inspected salami. Salmonella spp. and coagulase-positive Staphylococcus were not detected. In conclusion, although all samples were considered as safe for consumption, illegal salami had a worse microbiological quality when compared to inspected ones.