Evalutation of the non-compliances in buffalo milk and buffalo dairy products in the province of Caserta

Buffalo milk is used to produce different dairy products, with PDO Water buffalo Mozzarella cheese being a prominent example. The province of Caserta, along with Salerno, represents about 90% of the certified production in the entire PDO area. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of non-compliances observed in buffalo milk and buffalo dairy products in the province of Caserta during the years 2022 and 2023. A total of 1330 samples (847 milk and 483 buffalo dairy products samples) were collected and underwent microbiological (n = 992 samples), chemical (n = 336 samples) or physical (n = 2 samples) analysis. A total of 79 samples (5.93 %) resulted in non-compliance. Most of the non-compliance were observed among milk samples (8.38 %, n= 71/847), followed by water buffalo mozzarella cheese (2.59 %, n = 7/270), ice cream (3.85 %, n = 1/26). Among the buffalo milk samples in a total of 50 samples anti-Brucella antibodies were detected by ELISA. In a total of 19 milk samples, the mesophilic count exceeded the limits, while the Enterobacteriaceae count exceeded the limit twice. Regarding water buffalo mozzarella cheeses, the non-compliances were related to the presence of cow milk in them. In this study, a low number of non-compliances was detected; however, a moderate prevalence of antibodies against Brucella spp. in raw milk was observed. Nonetheless, the presence of antibodies may not always indicate disease, and further analysis should be conducted in the animals to investigate this.