Modification of an approved medium for fecal coliform detection in seawater: A-1 medium minus salicin

Four hundred fifteen shellfish seawater samples from approved, conditionally approved, and restricted areas along the coastlines of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine were tested in duplicate to compare results obtained with A-1 medium (AOAC official method no. 978.23) and those obtained with A-1 medium without salicin. Four laboratories used five sets of most probable number procedures to perform the analyses. No statistically significant differences between the two media were found with the t test, the F test, or the analysis of variance.