International Journal of Food Microbiology 93 (2004) 41 49 www.elsevier.

com/locate/ijfoodmicro

Mould contamination in production of semi-hard cheese

Cathrine Finne Kure a,*, Ida Skaar a, Johanne Brendehaug b
a

The National Veterinary Institute, Section for Food and Feed Microbiology, PO Box 8156 Dep., 0033 Oslo, Norway b TINE Norwegian Dairies BA, Center for Research and Development, PO Box 50, 4358 Kleppe, Norway Received 10 February 2003; received in revised form 24 September 2003; accepted 3 October 2003

Abstract Air, equipment, plastic film, brine and milk were sampled from four cheese factories in Norway during the period September 1997 to May 1999 in order to identify the critical points for mould contamination in the production process. Altogether, 672 samples were collected. Penicillium brevicompactum was the most frequently isolated species from three of the factories, while Geotrichum candidum was the most frequently isolated species from the fourth. P. commune, P. palitans, P. solitum and P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti, all common contaminants on cheese, were found in samples of air and equipment, and the former was also isolated from plastic film. The results in the present study showed that the mould levels in the cheese factories varied between the different control points. The mould levels at some of the air control points had high mould counts while the mould levels in milk and brine, on equipment and on plastic film, generally were low. The fungi at the control points with high mould levels consisted of common cheese contaminants as well as species not commonly isolated from cheese. The statistical analysis showed that air was the major source of the important cheese contaminants P. commune and P. palitans during the production process. High quality air with low number of cheese contaminants in production rooms, especially the wrapping room, is important in order to reduce mould contamination. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Cheese; Mould; Fungi; Contamination; Factory; Indoor environment; Indoor air

1. Introduction Norvegia and Jarlsberg are two of the most commonly consumed semi-hard cheeses in Norway. Jarlsberg cheese is also exported to several countries. Mould colonies on the surface of these cheese types can periodically cause problems, both economic and sensory. In addition, some mould species may pro-

* Corresponding author. Matforsk, Norwegian Food Research Institute, Osloveien 1, N-1430 Aas, Norway. Fax: +47-64-97-03-33. E-mail address: cathrine.finne.kure@matforsk.no (C.F. Kure). 0168-1605/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2003.10.005

duce mycotoxins (Pitt and Cruickshank, 1990; Frisvad and Thrane, 1995; Lund, 1995b) and therefore represent a possible health risk to the consumer. The production of these cheeses includes fermentation, renneting, pressing, brining and ripening. The renneting in closed cheese making vats is followed by pressing either in closed pressing towers or in open vats prior to closed perforated cheese moulds (hereafter named cheese containers). The cheese is then released from the cheese container and soaked in brine for approximately 20 h and wrapped in a plastic film followed by a period of ripening. The duration of process prior to ripening is approximately 23 h and

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C.F. Kure et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 93 (2004) 4149

the ripening is 8 12 weeks. During parts of the production process, the cheeses are in direct contact with equipment and are also exposed to air. Mould growth can be seen during ripening, storage and distribution to the consumer. Visible mould colonies from cheese blocks produced in the factories investigated in the present study have been isolated and identified (Kure et al., 2001). Penicillium commune, P. palitans, P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti and P. solitum were important contaminants on cheese blocks and also on consumer-packed Norvegia and Jarlsberg cheeses (Kure and Skaar, 2000). The aim of the present study was to identify the critical points for mould contamination in the production of Norvegia and Jarlsberg cheese in order to reduce moulding. The fungi in the indoor environment of four cheese factories were surveyed during the period September 1997 to May 1999. Air, equipment, plastic film, brine and milk were sampled. The results were related to a study of mould contamination of cheese blocks made in the same factories in the same period of time (Kure et al., 2001).

The production localities included rooms for production, brining and wrapping. The production rooms contained cheese making vats and pressing equipment. Brining system was included in the production rooms in factories C and D, while it was in separate rooms in factories A and B. Samples were collected from all four factories within the same week, and sampling was done in September and November 1997, February, May, September and November 1998, and February and May 1999. Air sampling was done by exposing Petri dishes (9 cm in diameter) containing Dichloran 18% glycerol agar (DG18) (Hocking and Pitt, 1980) for 1 h. Three Petri dishes were used at control points 3 and 5, and four Petri dishes were used at control point 4, to cover a period of 3 and 4 h, respectively. Surface sampling of equipment and plastic film was done by swabbing approximately 400 cm2. The swab was soaked in tap water agar (TWA) (Samsom et al., 1995) and sent to the laboratory the same day as samples were collected. Samples of milk and brine were taken with sterile bottles (Bulkotest; MG Plast, Moss, Norway). The salt concentration of brine was about 21% (saturated) and pH was about 5.0. 2.2. Isolation of moulds

2. Materials and methods 2.1. Collection of samples Air, milk, brine and the surfaces of equipment and plastic film were sampled eight times in two Jarlsberg cheese factories (factories A and B) and two Norvegia cheese factories (factories C and D) in the period September 1997 to May 1999. Cheese samples with mould growth were collected from the same four factories in the same period of time in a previous study (Kure et al., 2001). The cheese samples were produced at the same day or the following days as the environmental samples in the present study were collected. Factories A and C were located in the western part of Norway, while factories B and D were located in the middle and northern part of Norway, respectively. A sampling program was made for each of the four factories. The program was almost identical for the factories except for some practical adjustments due to different production equipment. Table 1 shows the control points used in the sampling program and number of samples from each of the factories. Swabs were streaked onto DG18 agar plates. Thirty milliliters of milk and brine were centrifuged at 666 RCF for 1 min and 2 0.1 ml were pipetted from the bottom of the tube and plated on two DG18 plates. The agar plates were incubated in darkness for 7 days at 25 jC and the colonies were inspected and counted. Representatives for each of the different colonies were subcultured and identified as previously described (Kure et al., 2001). 2.3. Data processing and statistical analyses The statistical analyses were performed with SASPC SystemR Version 6.12 for Windows (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA, 1996) and were performed separately for Penicillium brevicompactum, P. commune, P. palitans, P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti and P. solitum. Isolation of each of the mould species from a sample was treated as the dichotomous outcome (YES/NO) in the logistic regression analyses using PROC GENMOD. The independent variables tested

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43

Table 1 Description of the control points of air, equipment, plastic film, milk and brine used in the collection of samples from factories A, B, C and D, number of samples and number of samples were moulds were detected Control point (cp) 1 2 Air by cheese making vat cheese pressing tower, cheese pre-pressing vat in factory D machine releasing cheese from container with pressurized air, manually releasing of cheese from perforated cheese moulds (hereafter named cheese containers) in factory D brine system cheese wrapping room cheese pressing tower, pre-press lid in factory D stairs over conveyor in factory A, conveyor after pressing tower in factory B, conveyor after pressing vat in factory D cutter after pressing vat, only in factory D lifting device lifting cheese from conveyor to cheese container, only in factory D cheese container conveyor directly after cp 3, lifting device in factory D conveyor, only in factory B stairs over conveyor after emptying device in factory A, conveyor after brine system in factory B, bottom of salt vats in factories C and D conveyor, only in factory B conveyor after brine system in factory A, conveyor on wrapping machine in factory B, conveyor before wrapping machine in factories C and D lifting device lifting cheese from conveyor to plastic film No. of samples (no. of samples with moulds) Factory A 8 (6) 8 (4) Factory B 8 (4) 8 (4) Factory C 8 (1) 8 (2) Factory D 8 (3) 8 (5)

20 (17)

20 (9)

20 (14)

20 (11)

4 5 6 7

Equipment

26 (5) 20 (1) 8 (1) 8

26 (11) 20 (9) 8 (1) 8

26 (17) 20 (13) 8

26 (18) 20 (18) 8 8 (1)

8 9

8 8 (1)

10 11 12 13

8 (1) 8 (1)

8 8 8 (1) 8

8 8

8 (1) 8

8 (1)

8 (2)

8 (2)

14 15

8 (2)

8 8

8 (1)

16 17 18 19 Total no. of samples (no. of samples with moulds) Plastic film Milk Brine S 672 (202)

8 (2) 8 (3) 8 (2) 8 162 (46)

8 8 8 (1) 8 (1) 178 (41)

8 8 8 8 (1) 154 (50)

8 (1) 8 (1) 8 (1) 8 (1) 178 (65)

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C.F. Kure et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 93 (2004) 4149 Table 2 Number of colonies of mould species isolated from the indoor environment in factories A, B, C and D Mould species No. of colonies from factory A Acremonium strictum 56 Arthrinium sp. Aspergillus flavus A. niger 1 A. ustus Aureobasidium pullulans Botrytis cinerea 2 Chrysonilia sitophila Cladosporium cladosporioides 6 C. herbarum 1 Eurotium amstelodami 1 E. chevalieri 2 E. rubrum Eurotium sp 1 Geotrichum candidum 300 G. capitatum Mucor circinelloides M. plumbeus Paecilomyces varioti Penicillium aurantiogriseum 1 P. brevicompactum 7 P. chrysogenum 2 P. citrinum P. citreonigrum P. commune 8 P. corylophilum 2 P. crustosum 3 P. echinulatum P. expansum P. glabrum P. griseoroseum P. lividum P. palitans 11 P. piceum P. purpurescens P. roqueforti ss. Roqueforti 7 P. solitum 14 P. spinulosum 1 P. steckii 1 P. variabile P. viridicatum P. waksmani Phoma herbarum Phoma sp. 5 Rhinocladiella sp. Rhizopus oligosporus Scopulariopsis sp. Trichoderma harzianum T. pseudokoningii T. viride Ulocladium chartarum 1 Total 433 B C D 1 16 1 1 1 5 4 10 1 2 1 1 1 2 S 56 1 16 1 1 14 4 4 31 27 1 12 1 1 304 1 1 5 1 1 95 19 2 2 34 11 11 5 1 2 1 6 33 1 4 10 37 11 2 4 2 1 3 16 1 1 1 15 1 4 13 832

were factory with four levels (A, B, C, D), control point with two levels (air/equipment, plastic film, milk, brine) and month of sampling with four levels (February, May, September, November). The independent variables were treated as fixed effects in the analyses and the model evaluation was based on the Type-III effects (last to enter). First a univariate analysis was run, and variables with a p-value < 0.20 were further included in a multivariate model. Before the final model was decided, the interaction between the two-way independent variables was tested for significance.

1 1 4 7 1

12

13 21

3. Results A total of 672 samples were collected and moulds were detected on 202 of them (Table 1). 3.1. Moulds isolated Table 2 shows the mould species isolated from the four factories. In total, 18 different genera were isolated and Geotrichum and Penicillium were the most frequently isolated genera with 42.6% and 33.9% of the total colonies, respectively. A total of 51 species were detected, and Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. herbarum, P. brevicompactum, P. chrysogenum, P. commune, P. crustosum, P. palitans, P. spinulosum and Phoma sp. were detected from all four factories. Altogether, 67 colonies were identified as P. commune or P. palitans based on morphological characteristics and growth and acid production on creatine sucrose agar. Of these, 33 colonies produced fumigaclavine A and were consequently identified as P. palitans. 3.2. Moulds isolated from air (control points (cp) 1 5) Table 3 shows major mould species isolated from air control points in the four factories. The most frequently isolated species from factory B, C and D were P. brevicompactum with 36.8%, 12.9% and 24.1%, respectively, of the total colonies from air. P. brevicompactum was isolated from air control points through the entire production lines. This species was isolated on every sampling day (8 of 8 days) from

4 1 13 9 2 8 4 1 50 3 2 17 5 6

25 5

1 1 5 1

13

1 1 2

1 1 1

1 1 6 5 1 4 2 22 8 2 2 1

3 1

4 1

6 1

1 1 1

8 2 4 107

6 2 8 215

77

C.F. Kure et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 93 (2004) 4149 Table 3 Major mould species isolated from air control points in factories A, B, C and D, and control point at which the mould species were isolated Mould species Acremonium strictum Aureobasidium pullulans Cladosporium cladosporoides C. herbarum Geotrichum candidum P. brevicompactum P. chrysogenum P. commune P. corylophilum P. crustosum P. palitans P. roqueforti ss. Roqueforti P. solitum P. spinulosum Phoma herbarum Phoma sp. Cp 1 Cp 2 Cp 3 A D AD A AC AB A A A AB C A D AB C AD B D AD A ABC D CD BC ACD ABCD C ACD BD BCD C D AD D BD D BCD BC CD BCD BD D BCD BCD BCD ABD D BCD AD D D D Cp 4 Cp 5

45

Table 4 Mould species isolated from control points of equipment, plastic film, milk and brine in factories A, B, C and D, and the control point at which the mould species were isolated Mould species Cp Cp Cp Cp Cp Cp Cp Cp Cp Cp 6 7 10 11 13 15 16 17 18 19 D A D A A D A B C B A D A A B C C A A B D D

Aspergillus fumigatus A. niger Aureobasidium pullulans Eurotium chevalieri Eurotium sp Geotrichum candidum Mucor circinelloides M. hiemalis Penicillium brevicompactum P. commune P. chrysogenum A P. crustosum A B C P. roqueforti ss. Roqueforti

factories A and D, 6 of 8 days from factory B and 5 of 8 days from factory C. G. candidum and Acremonium strictum were the two most frequently isolated species from air in factory A, with 55.6% and 22.4% of the total colonies, respectively. G. candidum and A. strictum were found at control point 3, which is air by the container-releasing machine. Geotrichum candidum was found on every sampling day (8 of 8), while A. strictum was isolated at only 3 (of 8) samplings. Other frequently isolated species were P. commune, P. palitans and P. chrysogenum. P. commune constituted 7.9% and 7.5% of the colonies from air in factories C and D, respectively. Penicillium palitans and P. chrysogenum constituted 12.9% and 8.9%, respectively, of the colonies from air in factory C, while 10.2% of the colonies from air in factory D were P. solitum. 3.3. Moulds isolated from equipment, plastic film, milk and brine (cp 6 19) Table 4 shows mould species isolated from control points of equipment, plastic film, milk and brine in the four factories. P. commune was isolated from two of

eight samples of plastic film in factory A. In the same factory, P. chrysogenum, P. commune, P. crustosum and P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti were isolated from
Table 5 Adjusted odds ratios, with 95% confidence interval and p-value of regression coefficients, of risk factors for detection of P. brevicompactum Risk factor Level of categorization in analysis Air Equipment, plastic film, brine, milk B C D A
a

Adjusted OR with 95% confidence interval 70.8 (21.0 440.9) 1a

p-value

Type III p-value for variable 0.0001

Control point

0.0001

Factory

3.6 (1.2 12.3) 1.5 (0.4 5.4) 5.4 (1.9 18.0) 1a

< 0.03 0.54 0.003

0.0037

Reference level.

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C.F. Kure et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 93 (2004) 4149

equipment and together they were isolated from 12.5% of the samples of equipment. 3.4. Statistical analysis Tables 5 and 6 show the results from the multivariate model for P. brevicompactum and P. commune, respectively. The multivariate model showed that control point ( p-value < 0.001) and factory ( p-value 0.004) had a strong and significant impact on the frequency of P. brevicompactum. There was significantly higher probability of P. brevicompactum in air compared to the other control points. The probability of finding P. brevicompactum was also significantly higher in factories B and D than in factory A. The multivariate model showed that control point ( p-value 0.001), factory ( p-value 0.06) and month of sampling ( p-value 0.03) had significant impact on the frequency of P. commune. There was a significantly higher probability of P. commune in air compared to the other control points and there was a higher probability of P. commune in factory B than in factory

A. The risk for P. commune was significantly higher in February than in November and May. Control point had a substantial impact on the frequency of P. palitans ( p-value 0.001 and v2 21.9). The adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was 45.0 (2.7 763) for air compared to equipment, plastic film, brine and milk with reference level 1. Statistical analyses of P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti and P. solitum were not possible due to the low number of these species in the data set.

4. Discussion The results in the present study showed that the mould levels in the cheese factories varied between the different control points. The mould levels at some of the air control points had high mould counts while the mould levels in milk and brine, on equipment and on plastic film, generally were low. The fungi at the control points with high mould levels consisted of common cheese contaminants as well as species not commonly isolated from cheese. The statistical analysis showed that air was the major source of the important cheese contaminants P. commune and P. palitans during the production process. P. brevicompactum was the dominant mould species detected in indoor environment in three of the factories. This species is common in indoor environment (Samson et al., 1995) and was one of the main fungi detected in a survey of the fungal flora in Dutch cheese factories and warehouses (Hoekstra et al., 1998). Fortunately, P. brevicompactum is not a common cheese contaminant and was not frequently isolated from cheese blocks of Norvegia and Jarlsberg or consumer-packed Norvegia and Jarlsberg cheeses (Kure and Skaar, 2000; Kure et al., 2001). Contrary to what might be expected, statistical analysis showed that the frequency of P. brevicompactum was not dependent on season of sampling. P. brevicompactum was dependent on the factory where samples were collected and was more frequently isolated from factories B and D compared to factory A. G. candidum was the dominant fungal species in factory A and was isolated from air next to the releasing machine and from the conveyor directly after this machine. This species is able to grow in

Table 6 Adjusted odds ratios, with 95% confidence interval and p-value of regression coefficients, of risk factors for detection of P. commune Risk factor Level of categorization in analysis Air Equipment, plastic film, brine, milk B C D A February May September November
a

Adjusted OR with 95% confidence interval 5.8 (2.1 18.9) 1a

p-value

Type III p-value for variable 0.001

Control point

Factory

Month of sampling

0.10 (0.005 0.6) 0.33 (0.07 1.2) 0.55 (0.16 1.7) 1a 4.5 (1.11 31.1) 0.49 (0.02 5.3) 3.3 (0.7 23.0) 1a

0.036 0.12 0.3

0.0586

0.064 0.5 0.16

0.0291

Reference level.

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low oxygen environments (Wells and Spalding, 1975) and may therefore grow even on vacuum wrapped Jarlsberg cheese. In a study of the associated fungi of Jarlsberg cheese blocks produced in factory A, G. candidum was the most important mould contaminant (Kure et al., 2001). G. candidum should therefore receive particular attention in the hygienic control of air and equipment in this cheese factory. The releasing machine is a critical point for mould contamination in factory A. The pressurized air that is used to release the cheese from the container represents a problem. G. candidum is sometimes referred to as machinery mould or dairy mould because of its ability to adhere to surfaces (Scholte, 1996). Most probably G. candidum adheres to the surface of the container with pressurized air. Other important mould species from indoor environment were P. commune, P. palitans and P. solitum. These species were, together with P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti, the major mould contaminants on Norvegia and Jarlsberg cheese blocks (Kure et al., 2001) and were also frequently found on consumer-packed Norvegia and Jarlsberg cheeses (Kure and Skaar, 2000). P. commune and P. solitum have also frequently been isolated from cheese from different countries (Lund et al., 1995). In the present study, P. commune, P. palitans, P. solitum and P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti were found in samples of air and on equipment, although generally in low numbers. The statistical analyses showed that air was the major source of P. commune and P. palitans and the probability for detecting P. commune was dependent on the season while P. palitans was not. The probability for detecting P. commune was higher in February than November and May. The reason for this is not obvious. Still, similar observation has been found in a study of Ren et al. (1999), where the highest frequency of Penicillia was found in winter. One explanation could be that they are more psychrotrophic in nature. P. commune, P. palitans, P. solitum and P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti were isolated both at the beginning and the end of the production lines. This indicates that it is vital to prevent these species in air and also on equipment through the entire production line. The three important contaminant species P. commune, P. palitans and P. solitum were frequently isolated from air in the wrapping room in factory D. Other moulds were also often isolated from this

control point and the level of moulds in air at this point were higher than other control points in this factory. The frequency of P. commune and P. palitans was also higher in air in the wrapping room in factories B and C than at the other air control points, suggesting that air in the wrapping room must be considered as a critical point for moulding of cheese. The brine system in factory B is a large open vat where the cheese is in contact with air several times during the brining time. As air was the major source of the cheese contaminants P. commune and P. palitans, the brining of cheese in this factory is a critical point for mould contamination of the cheese. In a study of the associated fungi of consumerpacked Norvegia and Jarlsberg cheeses, P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti was most frequently isolated (Kure and Skaar, 2000) and was also among the most frequently isolated species from cheese blocks (Kure et al., 2001). P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti was also isolated from air and equipment in the present study. All genera isolated in the present study except for Arthrinium, Paecilomyces, Rhinocladiella and Ulocladium have been isolated in previous studies of indoor environment in cheese factories and warehouses (Hocking and Faedo, 1992; Fente-Sampayo et al., 1995; Lund et al., 1995a; Hoekstra et al., 1998). Aspergilli were frequently detected in two studies in the Netherlands (Hoekstra et al., 1998) and Spain (Fente-Sampayo et al., 1995). The genus Aspergillus was not frequently isolated in the present study, possibly due to the colder climate in Norway than in southern Europe. The results of the present study indicate that the cleaning and disinfection of the equipment and the mycological quality of brine and milk are sufficient in the four factories. However, the air control points, especially the air in the wrapping rooms, showed to have higher frequency of cheese contaminating P. species than the other control points. This implies that it is important to have focus on the air to reduce mould growth on the cheese. In order to achieve high air quality with low numbers of mould spores, it is important to treat mouldy cheese carefully. The level of mould spores that are able to grow on cheese will increase dramatically in the air if the mouldy cheese not is handled with care in a way that there will be as low as possible contamination of the air. Mouldy cheese should be

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C.F. Kure et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 93 (2004) 4149

kept away from the main cheese production rooms (Bullermann, 1997). Workers handling mouldy cheese should not enter the production rooms after this operation. If it is necessary, the workers should change clothes, shoes and hairnets. The cheese factories should have clean areas that are zones in the factory where there are special rules to keep the level of mould spores as low as possible. The clean areas are zones where the cheese are exposed to air. In the clean areas, the traffic of workers and equipment should be as low as possible (Hocking, 1997) in order to keep the level of mould spores as low as possible. The workers should use appropriate clothing in the clean areas and windows and doors to the outside air should be kept close. It is essential that these general hygienic routines are followed by the workers in order to reduce the frequency of mould spores in the air. With all the general hygienic routines working sufficient in the cheese factory, some kind of air treatment equipment may reduce the number of spores in air further. Some of the factories have filtered air and positive pressure in the wrapping room, which will reduce entry of mould spores in this room. The ventilation system may contain a lot of mould spores and its therefore necessary to have maintenance of this system in order to reduce spreading of spores from the ventilation systems. The air flow in the clean areas need to be in a such way that air flows from clean areas to unclean areas in order to minimise entry of mould spores from the unclean areas. The cheese factories control the mould level in the air with a general agar medium for mould counts. However, in order to identify where the levels of cheese contaminants are high, a certain identification of moulds present is necessary. Identification of moulds is difficult and time consuming and is not feasible in these factories. However, use of the selective agar medium creatine sucrose dichloran agar (CREAD) (Frisvad et al., 1992) together with a general agar medium for isolation of moulds will indicate if the isolated Pencillium species are cheese contaminants. P. commune, P. palitans, P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti and P. solitum grow well on CREAD while the common indoor air species P. brevicompactum and P. chrysogenum are CREAD negative species (Frisvad et al., 1992). A filter paper method by Lund

(1995a) gives a special color reaction for P. commune, P. palitans and P. roqueforti ss. roqueforti, and makes it possible for the factories to do some grouping of the isolated Penicillia. The filter paper method has previously been successfully implemented in a cheese factory (Lund, 1996). In order to monitor the total mould level, as well as occasional contaminants or specific contaminant species, such as G. candidum in factory A, it is recommended to include a general isolation medium in addition to the selective CREAD-agar in the hygienic control routines. Different strains of the same contamination species can be introduced at several points in the production lines and different strains might also contaminate the cheese. It is therefore of interest to identify major mould contaminants below species level in order to differentiate between the strains. Thus, it could be possible to identify the contamination strains on the cheese and follow these strains through the production process and relate them to the contamination points. Fingerprinting studies of major cheese contaminants from the present study and also from a previous study have been carried out (Kure et al., 2002, 2003). In the present study, air was the major source of cheese contaminants. The samples were collected only from the production rooms. In order to know if the airborne spores enter the production rooms from the outside or if they come from different rooms in the factory and the ventilation system, further studies are needed. Acknowledgements Thanks are due to TINE Norwegian Dairies for collecting samples, Jorun Jarp for the statistical analysis, and Mumtaz Begum and Alenka Focak for technical assistance. This work was supported by TINE Norwegian Dairies and the Research Council of Norway. References
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