Assessment of physico-chemical and microbiological quality of UHT milk cream

UHT products consumption has increased in Brazil, due to its practical storage and long shelf life. The aim of the present work was to verify physico-chemical and microbiological quality of UHT milk cream, commercialized in Londrina-PR. A total of 14 brands were evaluated, three samples for each brand were collected, toting up 42 samples. Regarding fat content, 26,19% of samples did not present the percentage described on the carton of the product, and the other 73,81% presented the expected percentage of label or superior values. As for acidity analysis, none of the results found had values superior than standard established by law. For mesophilic aerobes count, only one sample (2,38%) presented counts higher than standard of 100CFU/g of milk cream established by MAPA ( Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Supply, that inspects products at industry). On the other hand, 73,80% were out of standard according with ANVISA (Brazilian National Agency for Sanitary Surveillance, which establishes standards for food safety assurance at the market). The remaining samples ( 23,80%) did not present any growth. From 110 isolated colonies of BHI agar and nutrient agar, all were Gram positives from which 48,20% were bacillus, 41,8% were cocci, 7,3% with suggested yeast morphology, 1,8% were coccobacillus and 0,9% were diplococci. The most frequent problem evidenced by the present work was fat content lower than described on carton. Microbiological standards established for UHT milk cream by different government institutions are ambiguous and difficult product assessment. Using both standards, the majority of samples presented satisfactory quality according with industry legislation and, at the same time, were out of standards for the market.