Viable Counts Versus the Incidence of Machinery Mold ( Geotrichum ) On Processed Fruits and Vegetables

Aerobic plate counts on peas, green beans, corn, and beets collected at different processing stages were commonly 10⁶-10⁷ per g while counts on tart cherries were 10³-10⁴ per g. Bacteria made up 99% of the mesophilic microflora on the vegetables while yeasts predominated on the fruit. Many of the organisms appeared to be introduced with the raw product. Geotrichum was a common contaminant only of green beans; 49% of the samples from five canneries were positive with the average count being 130 fragments per 500 g. Geotrichum -positive samples did not yield higher viable counts than did those that were negative for this mold.