Eight different commercial brands of milk sold in Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, were sampled and evaluated. Each brand was sampled based on 3 different processing dates, and a total of 24 samples were collected for 1, 3, and 4 brands of type A, B, and C milk, respectively. Analyses were carried out for microbiological measures (total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, total coliforms and thermo-tolerant coliforms) and physicochemical (Ekomilk Total® ultrasonic milk testing device) determinations were made for fat, nonfat dry extract, density, protein, cryoscopy point, and lactose. The results showed that type A pasteurized milk was the worst in terms of microbiological and physical-chemical properties. Two brands of type B pasteurized milk had microbiological counts violating the law. The type C milk had the best results in this trial although 3 out of 4 brands presented total coliform values above the Brazilian legislation.
Coliforms; Normative Instruction 51; physical-chemical and microbiological analysis