In fact, the highest rind contamination levels (2 and 3 log cfu
g1) corresponded a high percentage of paste contamination after
cutting. In particular, the highest number of contaminated paste
samples, corresponding to 70.5% of the whole, was recovered for
cheeses S60 and P80a, corresponding to the highest rind contamination
levels. Absence of the pathogen was detected in the paste
when the rind contamination level decreased to 1 log cfu g1
(Table 2). Lower L. monocytogenes rind contamination reflected a
lower percentage of pathogen presence in the paste at the end of all
of the cutting steps: 27.3% and 15.9% of the samples were
contaminated after the cutting of cheeses S80 and P120, respectively,
while L. monocytogenes was not detected in 25 g of cheese
P80b