Cheese and Its Microbes Under the Light of One Health—A Comprehensive Review

A complex, dynamic microbiota inhabits cheese and cheesemaking environments. Such microorganisms can move across the dairy chain, from the microbiomes of production animals, through humans and environments which they interact with. These interactions impact all sectors of the One Health continuum. They may contribute to disseminate beneficial bacteria that enhance cheese quality, sustainability, and consumer health, but they also promote spread of pathogenic strains, along with their genetic determinants of virulence and antibiotic resistance across the milk and cheese production chain. This comprehensive, narrative review aims at providing a current view on cheese, its microbes, their roles, genetic determinants of virulence and antibiotic resistance, their relevance within the scope of the One Health approach and proposes using enterococci as sentinel microorganisms for monitoring AMR in cheese production chains.