Dairy Food Safety

The field of "Dairy Food Safety" encompasses the farm-to-table aspects of assuring the safety of fluid milk and dairy products, including cheese, dairy powders, and dairy-based infant formulas. Foodborne pathogens of particular concern in the dairy food chain inlcude Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157, Staphylococcus aureus as well as Cronobacter sakazakii (previsuoly known as Enterobacter sakazakii), which is specifally a concern in infant formula. For raw milk and raw milk dairy products, a large number of pathogens that cause disease in dairy animals (cattle, sheep, and goats) are also of concern (e.g., Brucella species, Mycobacterium bovis, Coxiella burnettii), in addiotn to the pathogens listed above.