Microbiological Safety of Selected Albanian Foods in Relation to EU Criteria: Evidence from Artisanal Dairy and Meat Supply Chains

Published microbiological data for Albanian artisanal dairy and meat supply chains remain limited, particularly for origin-specific cheeses, raw farm milk, and selected meat products. This targeted exploratory study examined 145 physical samples representing independent product lots or, for raw milk, independent bulk-milk lots obtained in separate collection events. The samples were organised into 29 organism-by-matrix analytical categories, with five independent experimental units in each category. ISO-based methods were used to enumerate hygiene indicators and screen for selected pathogens. Beta-glucuronidase-positive Escherichia coli counts were below 10 CFU/g in cow milk feta-type brined cheese and sausage, while Enterobacteriaceae counts were below 10 CFU/g in goat yoghurt and pistachio cake. In three raw-milk cheese-origin groups with quantified Escherichia coli data, mean counts ranged from 3.08 to 3.25 log CFU/g. For Liqenasi and Bardhoke, all five results in each category were >300 CFU/g and were treated as right-censored; the exact counts above this value were not quantified, so these observations were excluded from numerical summaries. Raw milk aerobic colony counts ranged from 4.52 to 6.52 log CFU/mL. Unconfirmed presumptive Salmonella spp. culture screening findings were obtained for 5/5 frozen chicken portions tested at 10 g and 5/5 pork portions tested at 25 g. Listeria monocytogenes was not detected in 5/5 ready-to-eat grilled chicken portions, each 25 g. Findings apply only to the sampled lots and support confirmatory sampling, complete lot documentation, and quantitative follow-up of right-censored results.