Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd Medi·Ca CC for Enumeration of Coliform Bacteria

A ready-made dry medium method for coliform count, the Medi·Ca CC method, was compared to the Violet Red Bile Agar method (Bacteriological Analytical Manual, Chapter 4, Enumeration of Escherichia coli and the Coliform Bacteria, Section G) for nine raw foods from four food categories: raw ground pork, raw lamb, raw ground chicken, raw tuna fillet, raw salmon fillet, raw shrimp, fresh peeled banana, fresh cut pineapple, and fresh cut apple. The 95% confidence interval for the mean difference between the two methods at each contamination level for seven matrixes from all four categories fell within the range of -0.50 to 0.50, and no statistical difference was observed at all three contamination levels for four matrixes from three categories. These results demonstrated that the Medi·Ca CC method is a reasonable alternative to the reference method for raw meat, raw poultry, raw fish, and fresh fruits.