Queijo minas artesanal, tradição centenária: ameaças e desafios

Erro no DOI, por isso foi disponibilizado o link de acesso.O queijo minas artesanal é, há séculos, o único vínculo de pequenos produtores mineiros com o mercado, garantindo-lhes seu sustento. Apesar do modo de fazer ser protegido pelo Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN) como patrimônio imaterial, desde 2008, o queijo Minas Artesanal está em meio a um impasse. De um lado, a lei estadual que define a regularização de sua produção e comercialização; do outro, uma lei federal que desconhece o processo artesanal e as dificuldades, até mesmo econômicas, do pequeno produtor brasileiro. E assim, os entraves crescentes à produção e comercialização fazem com que estes pequenos produtores permaneçam na ilegalidade, com a comercialização desta iguaria tradicionalmente brasileira no mercado informal. Nesta revisão, objetiva-se descrever os aspectos que levaram o queijo minas artesanal a ser reconhecido como produto tradicional brasileiro e discutir as principais ameaças e desafios que os produtores têm enfrentado para sair da ilegalidade. Metodologicamente utilizou-se para esta revisão, pesquisas em textos e artigos relacionados à produção de queijos artesanais, assim como normas federais e estaduais que regulamentam esta produção. Por meio das análises e discussões realizadas, pode-se observar que embora existam muitas regras e regulamentações por parte do governo, as informações sobre os queijos artesanais mineiros, principalmente à respeito de sua segurança para consumo, ainda são limitadas. Evidencia-se, ainda, a necessidade de ações conjuntas entre o governo, academias e produtores, afim de que estabeleçam políticas públicas mais adequadas a produção de queijos artesanais.The Minas Artisanal cheese is for centuries, the only link of small farmers with the market, ensuring their survival. In spite of the way of producing be protected by the Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage as intangible heritage, since 2008, the Minas Artisanal cheese is in the midst of an obstacle. On one hand, the state Law defines the regularization of their production and marketing; on another hand, a federal Law ignores the craft process and difficulties, even economic, of the small Brazilian producer. And thus the barriers to increasing production and marketing make these small producers remain illegally, selling this delicacy traditionally informal in the Brazilian market. This review aims to describe the aspects that led the Minas Artisanal cheese to be recognized as traditional Brazilian product and discuss the major threats and challenges that farmers have faced for leaving the illegality. Methodologically it was used for this review, research papers and articles related to the production of artisan cheeses, as well as federal and state regulations governing this production. Through analysis and discussion, it can be seen that although there are many rules and regulations by the government, information about the Minas Artisanal cheese, mainly regarding its safety for consumption, are still limited. It is evident, though, the need for joint action between government, academia and producers, so as to establish public policies best suited to the production of artisanal cheeses

Room temperature aging to guarantee microbiological safety of Brazilian artisan Canastra cheese

Canastra cheese is one of the oldest and most traditional cheeses made from raw milk in Brazil. However, this type of practice may have severe consequences for human health. According to the current legislation, any cheese made from raw milk must be aged for at least 60 days. Traditionally, Canastra cheese is consumed after different ripening periods, but consumers usually prefer those that are aged less than eight days. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of physicochemical and microbiological parameters, with emphasis on the pathogenic microbiota regulated by law, on cheese aged at room temperature and under refrigeration. Cheese samples were collected from eight different cheese producers located in the Serra da Canastra region twice a year (rainy and dry seasons) and analyzed with 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, and 64 days of ripening. Room temperature aging effectively reduced pathogens, reaching the total count established by law in 22 days, regardless of the season. However, ripening under refrigeration, it was ineffective in reducing the Staphylococcus aureus counts to the legislation limits, even after 64 days. Therefore, Canastra cheese should be ripened for at least 22 days at room temperature in order to fulfill the safety regulatory limits

Enterotoxigenic potential of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from Artisan Minas cheese from the Serra da Canastra - MG, Brazil

This study aimed to evaluate the presence of enterotoxigenic S. aureus in the endogenous starter and in Artisan Minas cheeses from the Serra da Canastra. Sixteen samples of endogenous starters and cheese were collected during the rainy and dry seasons. The isolation and enumeration of S. aureus were performed using the PetrifilmTM-Rapid S. aureus Plate Count method. The presence of enterotoxin in the cheese samples was analyzed by the Optimal Sensitivity Plate (OSP) method and the ELFA-VIDAS®-Staph enterotoxin-II assay. S. aureus strains were tested for their ability to produce enterotoxins using the Optimal Sensitivity Plate (OSP) method and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the classical enterotoxin genes. The Optimal Sensitivity Plate (OSP) method data showed that staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) was detected in 75% of the cheese samples, but no toxin was detected with the ELFA-VIDAS method. It was found that 12.5% of the isolated strains produced staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and staphylococcal enterotoxin C (SEC). When using the the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, only one isolate was found to harbor an enterotoxin gene, contrary our expectations. However, discrepancies between the immunological and molecular assays are not uncommon. Despite the fact that most isolates did not produce classical enterotoxins, high S. aureus counts in the cheese samples causes concern since there is a risk of the presence of non-classical enterotoxins

Consumo e digestibilidades dos nutrientes em bovinos recebendo dietas contendo silagens de milho e sorgo, com e sem inoculante microbiano

Avaliaram-se o consumo, as digestibilidades total, ruminal e intestinal dos nutrientes, a taxa de passagem da digesta ruminal e as concentrações de amônia e pH ruminal de dietas contendo silagens de milho e sorgo, com e sem inoculante microbiano. Utilizaram-se quatro animais Holandês x Zebu fistulados no rúmen e no abomaso, distribuídos em um quadrado latino 4 x 4 (duas silagens x dois inoculantes). Adotou-se uma relação volumoso:concentrado de 63:37%, na MS. O consumo e as digestibilidades total e ruminal dos nutrientes não foram influenciados pelas dietas experimentais. Para os consumos de MS, PB e NDT, registraram-se, respectivamente, valores médios de 6,61; 0,75 e 3,96 kg/dia. Obtiveram-se valores médios de 61,17 e 61,91; 61,43 e 13,21 e 52,13 e 92,96% para as digestibilidades total e ruminal da MS, PB e FDN, respectivamente. Quanto à digestibilidade intestinal dos nutrientes, detectou-se efeito do tipo de silagem apenas na FDN, observando-se maior valor para a dieta à base de silagem de milho (9,08) em relação à de sorgo (4,77%). Não houve efeito de dietas, nem do tempo de coleta, sobre os valores de pH ruminal, que apresentou valor médio de 5,58. Todavia, houve efeito do tempo de coleta sobre a concentração de amônia ruminal (N-NH3), estimando-se valores máximos de 10,82; 9,04; 9,47 e 8,84 mg/100 mL nas dietas com as silagens de milho não tratada e tratada com inoculante microbiano e com as silagens de sorgo não tratada e tratada com inoculante microbiano, respectivamente. As taxas de passagem médias estimadas nas dietas com silagens de milho sem e com inoculante microbiano e com silagens de sorgo sem e com inoculante microbiano, foram de 5,05; 4,29; 5,12 e 4,44%/h, respectivamente

Improvement the nutritional status of pre-school children following intervention with a supplement containing iron, zinc, copper, vitamin A, vitamin C and prebiotic

Abstract This study investigated the effects of a vitamin and mineral fortified powder product supplemented with inulin, on the iron and vitamin A status of 110 pre-schools childrens in Viçosa, MG, Brazil. The 2 to 5-year-old children were submitted to anthropometric (weight and height), biochemical (erythrocytes, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume – MCV, mean corpuscular hemoglobin - MCH, serum iron, ferritin and serum retinol) and dietary (direct food weighing, 24 h recall, and food intake record) evaluations, at the beginning and at the end of a 45-day intervention. The supplement (30 g) was provided daily as part of the afternoon snack, diluted in 100 mL of water, 5 times/week and it supplied 30% of the recommended daily doses of iron, zinc, copper and vitamins A and C. Dietary and biochemical data was compared by the Wilcoxon test, and anthropometric data by the paired t-test. Values of z-scores for weight and height, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, MCV, MCH and ferritin were significantly higher after intervention; no change was observed in serum retinol. The prebiotic-containing supplement significantly increased the intake of energy, macro and micronutrients, and was effective in improving the iron and anthropometric status

Evaluation of the subchronic toxicity of kefir by oral administration in Wistar rats

Introduction: Kefir is obtained by fermentation of milk with complex microbial populations present in kefir grains. Several health-promoting benefits have been attributed to kefir consumption. Objective: The objective of this work was to conduct a subchronic toxicity study, offering the rats normal or high-doses of kefir and evaluating growth, hematology and blood chemistry, as well as assessing bacterial translocation and the integrity of the intestinal mucosa of animals. Methods: Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 6/group): control group received 0.7 mL of water, kefir group received 0.7 mL/day of kefir, (normodose), and Hkefir group received 3.5 mL/day of kefir (fivefold higher dose). Feeding was carried out by gavage. The animals were housed in individual cages and maintained under standard conditions for 4 weeks. Results: The normodose and high-dose of kefir supplementation did not harm the animals since growth, hematology and blood chemistry in rats, as well as the potential pathogenicity in tissues were within normal limits, demonstrating that consumption of normodose and highdose of kefir are safe. In addition, administration of the normodose of kefir reduced cholesterol levels and improved the intestinal mucosa of the rats. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the consumption of kefir is safe. Importantly, while damages are not seen for the high-dose, the normodose consumption is recommended due to the pronounced beneficial effects, as safety is concerned