Butyric acid bacteria in raw milk are not only a parameter for poor quality silage and poor hygienic practices in dairy farms; they are also responsible for high economic losses in cheese production. They can spoil long-ripened raw milk cheeses by cracking and forming butyric acid, leading to severe economic impact.

Therefore, for hard and semi-hard cheese production, identifying and quantifying butyric acid-forming clostridia is essential for preventing the use of contaminated milk in cheese production.

Counts of these endospores are used as an indicator for milk payments in several countries. As there is no internationally standardised method for testing available and the methods in use differ in method specificity and sensitivity, the International Dairy Federation has published the a.m. bulletin to provide guidance on method selection and result comparison and interpretation based on the use of the different methods.

The game-changing SY-LAB AMP-6000 technology, which uses a chromogenic highly selective media for the enumeration of butyric acid-producing clostridial spores, is included as one of the methods described in the new bulletin.

Visit SY-LAB for more method details.

For a Comparison of current BAPC methods in use, refer to the following IDF publications:
IDF Bulletin 533/2025: Considerations on methods for spore counting of butyric acid forming (“cheese spoiling”) clostridia
IDF Factsheet 22/ 2022: Enumeration of butyric acid forming (cheese spoiling) clostridia – methodical considerations