Recreating pink defect in cheese with different strains of <i>Thermus</i> bacteria

Pink discoloration defects in cheese manifests as the appearance of pink patches within blocks and has recently been associated with Thermus thermophilus. Swiss-type cheeses were prepared at pilot scale using thermophilic starter cultures, Propionibacterium freudenreichii, one thermophilus HB27, scotoductus SE1 or DPC6866 a control without Thermus. Significantly, higher level redness was observed HB27 relative to other suggests that development defect is dependent on strain present other, yet unknown, factors require further study.