| Abstract Mozzarella cheese is considered a safe food due to the high temperature treatment used in the traditional process of stretching into hot water; however, a post-process contamination during the cheese manufacture or during the processing (before distribution) could occur. This study investigated the occurrence of Shiga toxin-encoding Escherichia coli (STEC) strains in homemade-mozzarella cheese. In total, 59 raw milk cheese samples collected at a local producer in the Jequitinhonha Valley (Northeast of Minas Gerais, Brazil) were submitted for microbiological analysis, and 38 (64.4%) tested positive for E. coli. Then, 147 strains of E. coli were isolated from positive samples and screened by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of the genes... |
