We performed a comprehensive study describing SEC production
in milk environment. Surprisingly, we found the very low SEC
production compared with production in laboratory media. Our
data imply two main conclusions: i) S. aureus strains producing SEC
could be considered as a relatively harmless milk-contaminating
bacteria, although further studies using a large number of strains
will be necessary to confirm this statement; ii) There is a clear need
to study behaviour of food-borne pathogens in their natural environment
instead of using laboratory media.