Bacterial Counts of Foods

The presence of bacteria in food does not mean that the food is spoiled however it is important, in some cases, to measure the bacterial counts of foods. Some food like yogurt, summer sausage, and sauerkraut are produced by microbial fermentation and therefore have high bacterial counts. Post production treatments reduce the total number of bacteria in these foods. Bacteria are naturally associated with some foods like when they are harvested. Green beans, potatoes, and beats have soil bacteria associated with them. The chalky appearance of grapes is due to yeasts that are naturally associated with them. Food can transmit disease very easily. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 76 million per year in the U.S. become sick from foodborne illness. This illness usually results from bacteria or their toxins introduced to food products during processing, handling, or preparation. Botulism food poisoning results from ingesting a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum when its endospores grow in improperly home canned foods. One can perform coliform counts to determine if bacteria is contaminated with fecal bacteria. In this method food must be mixed with water and put in a blender before it can be plated with agar.