Churning butter of fresh creams. Legal aspects and microbiological characteristics [Italy]

Creams coming from the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese may be used for the production of burro di caseificio (not pasteurized dairy plant butter) or for the production of zangolato di creme fresche (chuming butter). These by-products are ruled by precepts that make their use or sale conditioned by the productive process, conditidn of storage and chemical-physical and microbiological characteristics. This study had the goal to verify the suitableness of the product in the hypothesis of the destination to direct consumption as burro di caseificio, and to evaluate the modifications that occur in the microflora during the storage of zangolato to verify the maintenance of the initial microbiological characteristics. The study showed that the product has microbiological characteristics that make it unable for direct consumption, but that, at storage conditions fixed by rules, it is microbiologically stable so that its storage for further processing is allowed.