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The microbiological and hygienic quality of cow's, goat's and sheep's milk in the Czech Republic was evaluated. Milk (230 samples) was collected on 41 farms and investigated from May 2012 to October 2014. Milk was analysed for the presence of selected groups and types of bacteria: mesophilic microorganisms (total plate count - TPC), enterococci, Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Besides these indicators and pathogenic agents, somatic cell count was determined as one of the indicators of mammary gland health in cows. TPC ranged between 8.3 ? 10² and 1.2 ? 109 CFU/ml and somatic cells between 1.6 ? 104 and 6.8 ? 106 cells/ml. The presence of E. coli was confirmed in 86.3% of samples and the colony counts ranged from 1.0 ? 10¹ to 4.0 ? 106 CFU/ml. The presence of verotoxigenic E. coli was confirmed in 3 samples (1.3%) (cow's milk 0%; goat's milk 6.3%; sheep's milk 4.4%). The presence of S. aureus was confirmed in 29.1% of the samples (cow's milk 26.9%; goat's milk 34.4%; sheep's milk 39.1%), but the numbers were very low (< 5.0 ? 10² CFU/ ml). L. monocytogenes was confirmed in 3 examined samples (1.3%) (cow's milk 0.6%; goat's milk 3.1%; sheep's milk 4.4%). Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. were not detected in any of the samples tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Milk adulteration with added water is controlled by freezing point depression (FPD) determination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of an alternative method for FPD equivalent (FPD-E) measurement and to estimate the basis for FPD cut-off value (to identify milk adulteration with added water) for ewes' milk. Raw bulk ewes' milk samples (n = 811) from Slovakia were analysed for FPD, FPD-E and composition in 2014. Influence of season and lactation was significant for all milk indicators. The mean FPD of bulk ewes' milk samples was -0.559 °C ± 0.029 °C. The FPD cut-off value can be in the range close to -0.511 °C (mean + standard deviation × 1.64, one-sided 95% confidence interval). An extent of 89.4% of the variability in FPD-E could be explained by variations in FPD. The total correlation coefficient was 0.945 (p < 0.001) and high correlation was also for FPD greater than -0.511 °C (0.992, p < 0.001). This could be explained by high correlations between FPD and milk components: -0.228 (p < 0.01) for fat, -0.231 (p < 0.001) for proteins, -0.219 (p < 0.001) for lactose, -0.497 (p < 0.001) for non-fat solids and -0.341 (p < 0.001) for total solids. Determination of FPD-E in ewes' milk can be an effective tool for estimation of milk adulteration with added water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...