The effect of gamma irradiation on the quality of kareish cheese was evaluated. Egyptian kareish cheese were subjected to gamma irradiation at different safety doses beginning from 1 kilo gray (KGy) to a maximum of 5 KGy. The physico-chemical composition as well as microbiological quality of kareish cheese samples were monitored before and after irradiation. Moisture, salt, soluble nitrogen and total nitrogen decreased while pH was higher in cheese samples before irradiation in comparison with the irradiated groups. Irradiation reduced population of bacteria i.e. total colony count, total yeast and mold count, coliform count, total Enterobacteriacae count and total Staphylococcus count. The effect was more pronounced at the highest dose (5 KGy). It could be concluded that increasing the dose of irradiation up to 5 KGy had high reduction percentages for bacterial counts with no effects on either sensory or chemical characteristics. Our results suggest that kareish cheese manufacturers could use gamma irradiation to improve the safety of this product.