Table A6.

Type of contaminants in cheese and their impacts on health and nutrition.

Product	Contaminant	Stage of Supply Chain (Possible Stage of Contamination)	Stage of Supply Chain (Possible Stage for Detection)	Impact on the Product	Possible Health Impact
Cheese	Microbes (psychrotrophic bacteria)	Any stage	Cold storage	produce extracellular or intracellular proteases, lipases causes resistance to pasteurization	Increase fatty acids and decreases shelf life, late gas blowing defect
Cheese	Mycotoxins(aflatoxins, ochratoxin-A, fumonisins, trichothecenes, zearalenone and cyclopiazonic acid)	Milk producer, pre and post processing period	Processing/packaging center Cold storage	Makes product non consumable/toxic	Carcinogen (cancer causing)
Cheese	Organic pollutants such as dioxins and PCBs	Any Stage as they accumulated in the milk.	Processing/packaging center Cold storage	Makes product non consumable/toxic	Nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, cancers, birth defects, reproductive harm, immunotoxicity