Evaluation of the hygienic aspects of dried milks and infant formulas

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to explore the hygienic aspects of different dried milks and infant formulas procured from different supermarkets and pharmacies in Assiut city, Egypt. All the samples were examined for some sensory, physical, chemical and microbiological parameters. The obtained results for the examined dried milks and infant formulas showed the mean values of the insolubility index as 3.24 & 2.17 mg, respectively; pH as 6.9 & 7.1, respectively. The chemical parameters showed the results of acidity%, moisture content, total solids%, fat% and SNF%. For the results of coliforms, fecal coliforms & E. coli , all the examined samples were acceptable according to the Egyptian Standards. In contrast, B. cereus was detected in 33.33 & 26.67% of the examined dried milk and infant formula samples, respectively. It was noticed that all the samples were free from Cronobacter species . Unfortunately, the unacceptable samples according to Cl. perfringens were 6.67% of the dried milk and 3.33% of the infant formula samples. The average yeasts & molds count was 1.09 × 10 5 and 1.44 × 10 5 , respectively.