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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Greece

Feta PDOΦέτα

Feta is a white cheese ripened in brine, made from ewe milk or ewe milk with up to 30% goat milk. The rennet curd drains in moulds under its own weight, is dry-salted on the surface and then packed into wooden barrels or metal tins under 7% brine. It ripens first at up to 18 °C and then at 2–4 °C, for at least two months in all. Made in 6 steps over 2.6 months. The longest step, ripen cold, takes at least 2 months (Greek Ministry of Agriculture 1994) and runs at 2–4 °C (Greek Ministry of Agriculture 1994). Salt is 7 % (Greek Ministry of Agriculture 1994). Lactobacillus plantarum (58 of 146 isolates), with L. pentosus and L. paraplantarum, the most common in traditional Feta during ripening and Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, high for the first 20 days, then declining do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[gr-313025][eamb-feta]Ripen cold
Temperature2–4 °CSet[gr-313025][eamb-feta]Ripen cold
Salt7 %Set[gr-313025][eamb-feta]Pack under brine and pre-ripen warm
AciditypH 4.8–5.1Measured[govaris2002]Drain in moulds without pressing
Fully documentedCheese2.6 monthsPDO (EU, 2002); Greek Ministerial Decision 313025 of 11 January 1994Family: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)More white brined cheesesMore from Greece

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe decision fixes limits, not a recipe. Shapes, sizes and weights vary; the cheese is sold in barrels, tins or smaller packs.
Ewe milk · At least 6% fat and pH at least 6.5; from local breeds fed on local flora; raw or pasteurised; set within 48 h of milking[gr-313025]
Goat milk · Optional, at most 30% by weight[gr-313025][eamb-feta]
Rennet · Traditional rennet or enzymes with the same action[gr-313025]
Calcium chloride up to 20 g per 100 kg of milkLactic cultures and calcium chloride · Only when the milk is pasteurised[gr-313025]
Coarse salt and 7% brine[gr-313025][eamb-feta]
Starterraw-milk flora, or harmless lactic cultures when the milk is pasteurised

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.6 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
pH at least 6.5

What changes: Starting material: ewe milk, with goat milk up to 30%

Step 1 of 6
Collect ewe and goat milk
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH at least 6.5
Set
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus plantarum
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii
Enterococcus faecium
Lactic acid bacteria

Milk must come from milkings at least 10 days after birth. Concentrating the milk or adding milk powder, proteins, caseinates, colours or preservatives is banned.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Feta is the model of the white-brined family: ewe milk with at most 30% goat milk, drained without pressing, dry-salted and ripened at least two months in 7% brine. Cow milk is not allowed, and the curd is never pressed.

Milk
Ewe milk, or ewe plus goat milk with goat at most 30%, from the named Greek regions
Salting
The drained curd is dry-salted on the surface, then put into wooden or metal vessels with 7% NaCl brine
Ripening
Up to 15 days at up to 18 °C, RH 85% or more, then at 2–4 °C, for at least 2 months in all
Composition
Moisture at most 56%; fat in dry matter at least 43%; no rind

Related ferments

Variants

  • Barrel FetaRipened and sold in wooden barrels

Safety

Feta may be made from raw or pasteurised milk. In traditional raw-milk trials, coliforms and E. coli peaked on day 4 and were gone by day 120; in a challenge test, E. coli O157:H7 disappeared after 36–44 days of ripening. The two-month minimum ripening in brine is part of the PDO rules.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms and Escherichia coli, highest at day 4 and not found after 120 days of ripening; E. coli O157:H7 added in a challenge test, no longer found after 36–44 days of ripening.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The 1994 decision recognised Feta as a PDO on the request of a livestock cooperative, and the EU application calls it produced in Greece since ancient times. The EU registered it as a PDO in 2002.

  1. [gr-313025] Greek Ministry of Agriculture, Ministerial Decision 313025 of 11 January 1994, Recognition of the protected designation of origin (PDO) of the cheese Feta (Government Gazette, via WIPO Lex GR044)spec
  2. [eamb-feta] EU registration summary of Greek Ministerial Decision 313025/11.1.94 (Feta PDO), eAmbrosia attachment 73143spec
  3. [manolopoulou2003] Manolopoulou E. et al. 2003, Evolution of microbial populations during traditional Feta cheese manufacture and ripening, International Journal of Food Microbiology 82:153–161, doi:10.1016/s0168-1605(02)00258-1 (abstract)paper
  4. [govaris2002] Govaris A., Papageorgiou D.K. and Papatheodorou K. 2002, Behavior of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during the manufacture and ripening of feta and telemes cheeses, Journal of Food Protection 65:609–615, doi:10.4315/0362-028x-65.4.609 (abstract)paper
  5. [papadakis2021] Papadakis P. et al. 2021, Characterization of bacterial microbiota of P.D.O. Feta cheese by 16S metagenomic analysis, Microorganisms 9:2377, doi:10.3390/microorganisms9112377 (abstract)paper